GRAINS - Chicago soybeans and corn fall due to concerns about China's demand, benign U.S. climate
Chicago soybean and corn contracts fell on Monday. The market was pressured by favorable weather in the United States and worries about export demand. Trade tensions between the U.S. and its top customer, China, continued to affect prices.
As of 0226 GMT, the most active soybean contract traded on the Chicago Board of Trade was down by 0.38% to $10.38-4/8 a bushel.
The optimism that accompanied the announcement of President Donald Trump's request for China to quadruple their soybean purchases has faded. There is little progress being made in the trade negotiations.
As negotiations drag on, U.S. soy exporters could miss out on sales worth billions of dollars to China in this year.
Corn prices fell 0.8%, to $4.02 per bushel. The benign weather conditions and plentiful supplies pushed the price down.
The USDA last week forecast a record-large U.S. corn crop in 2025/26, while projecting a much smaller-than-expected soybean harvest.
Ole Houe, IKON Commodities' Sydney office, said that the U.S. futures market is mainly being driven by the benign weather in America and some indigestion over last week's USDA Report.
"Global demand remains slow. "China has not yet shown up for beans and corn from the U.S., so the market tends downward every day when there is no news," he said.
The Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour, which is expected to estimate corn yields this week and gauge the potential of soybean production in seven U.S. States before releasing its crop forecast on Friday, will also be watched by traders.
Wheat fell 0.43%, to $5.26-$5.27 a bushel due to concerns over global supply. Reporting by Ella Cao, Lewis Jackson and Harikrishnan Nair
(source: Reuters)
