Chicago | Reuters – U.S. corn futures fell to their lowest level in nearly three weeks on Thursday as rain improved production prospects in the Midwest and traders braced for key acreage and inventory data expected from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday.
Wheat trailed lower than corn, pressured by a stronger US dollar which tends to make US grains less attractive in the global market. Soybean futures mostly ended higher.
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Corn, which was the most active in December on the Chicago Board of Trade, was down 8-1/4 cents at $5.28-1/2 a bushel after trading at $5.26-1/4 the lowest level since June 9 (all figures in US dollars).
CBOT September Wheat ended down 2-1/4 cents at $6.67-1/2 a bushel.
August soybeans finished up 6-3/4 cents at $13.67-3/4 a bushel and November new crop soybeans finished up 3/4 cents at 12 $.65-3/4 from. Both contracts remained within the previous day’s trading range.
Traders are awaiting the USDA’s quarterly equities report on Friday, in which analysts expect the government to report lower inventories of corn, soybeans and wheat on June 1 from a year earlier. The USDA will also release updated US acreage estimates.
“Trading this morning is focused on the possibility that soybean stocks will tighten somewhat while corn stocks may surprise on the upside,” Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX, wrote in a note to clients.
“Export sales for both (crops) remain weak, but soybean inventories are already much tighter, which leaves less room for error,” Suderman added.
In its weekly export sales report, the USDA put sales of junk corn at 140,400 tons for the week ended June 22, down 16 percent from the previous four-week average. Export sales of old-crop soybeans totaled 227,400 tons, down 28 percent from the four-week average the previous week.
Meanwhile, storms swept into Illinois from eastern Iowa, bringing much-needed moisture to emerging corn and soybean crops in 2023. According to the USDA, around 70 percent of US corn production was affected by the drought as of June 27, up from 64 percent a week earlier.
A series of rainstorms forecast over the next two weeks across the southern and mid-Midwest could help stabilize or improve crop conditions and replenish soil moisture ahead of the critical pollination period of the corn crop in late July.
— reporting for Reuters by Julie gingersen in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila.
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