* Hot, dry weather results in lower soybean yields
* The market is awaiting the results of the Pro Farmer Tour
* Wheat will be held back by Ukraine’s export efforts
CHICAGO, Aug 21 (Reuters) – Chicago soybeans rose for a fourth straight session on Monday, hitting a three-week high as hot, dry conditions in the US fueled concerns over crop stress.
Wheat fell as Ukraine looked for new Black Sea export routes, putting pressure on corn futures. Markets awaited the results of the annual Pro Farmer harvest tour, which will survey corn and soybean fields in the Midwest this week.
The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) ended 8 1/2 cents higher at $13.61 3/4 a bushel after previously hitting its highest price since July 28.
CBOT corn was down 10-1/2 cents at $4.82-1/2 a bushel, while CBOT wheat was down 13-1/2 cents at $6.25-1/2 a bushel.
Extreme heat is forecast for much of the US Midwest this week, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 degrees Celsius) on the US plains.
Hot temperatures combined with lack of rain could damage soybean crops during a crucial development window.
“People say the rain we had in the first week of August set the crop in motion,” said Mark Gold, managing partner at Top Third Ag Marketing. “I think this heat will do a lot of damage.”
Weekly crop assessments by the US Department of Agriculture, released after the market close, gave the US soybean crop a 59% good-to-excellent rating on Aug. 20, unchanged from the previous week and one percentage point below analyst estimates.
Corn conditions fell one percentage point to 58% good to excellent.
“Maybe it won’t rain for three weeks. If that prediction is correct, they will support the bean crop,” said John Zanker, market analyst at Risk Management Commodities.
Soybeans also found support after exporters sold 159,350 tons of U.S. soybeans to undisclosed destinations earlier Monday, according to the USDA.
Exporters also sold 111,770 tons of corn to Mexico, according to the USDA.
Recent military incidents in the Russia-Ukraine war sparked a shortfall on Friday as the threat of further disruption to Black Sea grain trade loomed over the market, despite a new plan to insure Ukrainian export vessels affected by a retested Black Sea export travel, was announced The corridor increased the pressure.
“Just because they have insurance doesn’t mean Russia won’t shoot at them. We’ll have to see how that plays out,” Gold said. (Reporting by Christopher Walljasper; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; editing by Paul Simao and Cynthia Osterman)
Comments are closed.