Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Board of Trade corn futures extended losses on Tuesday to approach a 2025 low as improved U.S. crop ratings and forecasts for more benign weather fueled expectations for a bumper harvest.
Soybeans also eased toward a multi-month low as non-threatening U.S. crop conditions similarly created supply pressure, analysts said.
Traders worried that tariff disputes with key trading partners may hurt demand for U.S. crops at a time when farmers are increasingly expected to produce large yields.
U.S. President Donald Trump broadened his global trade war this week as he announced a 50 per cent duty on imported copper and higher tariffs on goods from 14 nations.
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With the speculative fund selling and relatively decent crop conditions on the Canadian Prairies, a broker said canola futures have little option but to continue falling back.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said after Monday’s market close that 74 per cent of the nation’s corn crop was in good or excellent condition, up one percentage point from a week earlier and the highest for this time of year since 2018.
“Crop ratings are in lofty territory heading into pollination and indicating massive record yield potential,” broker StoneX said in a note.
Most-active CBOT corn futures Cv1 finished down 6-1/2 cents at $4.14-1/4 a bushel. They earlier touched $4.13-1/4, approaching an eight-month low of $4.02-1/4 struck at the end of June.
CBOT soybeans Sv1 ended 3-1/4 cents lower at $10.17-1/2 a bushel.
Weather has been largely favorable for both crops, and Commodity Weather Group said a lack of extreme heat is expected to limit major stress in the coming weeks. Large U.S. harvests would add to bumper production in rival exporter Brazil.
On Friday, the USDA is slated to issue a monthly update on global agricultural supplies and demand.
The agency rated 66 per cent of the U.S. soybean crop as good to excellent on Monday, unchanged from last week but down from 68 per cent a year earlier.
Weekly USDA data showed the U.S. winter wheat harvest progressed faster than analysts expected, highlighting incoming supplies in the Northern Hemisphere.
Agricultural consultancy Sovecon raised its forecast for 2025-26 wheat exports in Russia, the world’s biggest wheat exporter.
CBOT wheat Wv1 eased 3/4 cent to end at $5.47-3/4 per bushel.
—Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
