Chicago | Reuters—Chicago soybean futures eased on Monday as favorable U.S. crop weather took the focus away from U.S. strikes on Iran conducted over the weekend.
November soybeans SX25 settled down 14 cents at $10.46-3/4 per bushel.
Chicago corn also fell on weather pressure, and wheat ticked down with an accelerating harvest.
Forecasts for the week of July 2 show warm but wet conditions across the U.S. corn belt, said Brian Hoops, president of Midwest Market Solutions.
The weather will create “a near greenhouse effect,” said Hoops, with benefits for corn and soybean crops.
Read Also
U.S. grains: Corn rebounds from contract lows on short covering, bargain buying
Bargain buying and short covering lifted U.S. corn futures on Monday after the market slid to contract lows on expectations for strong U.S. output, traders said.
Those conditions outweighed the earlier impact of oil prices surging after the U.S. targeted Iranian nuclear sites over the weekend.
Oil prices fell one per cent on Monday after reaching a five-month high as market players assessed the impact on transit of oil and gas via the Strait of Hormuz after the U.S. attacked Iran with airstrikes.
Soy oil is closely tied to crude oil prices because it is used in biofuel as a substitute for fossil fuel.
But, said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting, “the lack of a weather story on the U.S. crop is more negative right now than any potential blow-up between the U.S. and Iran.”
September corn CU25 slipped 8 cents to end at $4.17-1/2 per bushel, having hit contract lows earlier in the session.
September wheat WU25 finished down 14 cents at $5.69-1/2 a bushel.
And in wheat, U.S. weather conditions in the coming weeks will favour harvesting, said analysts.
“Hotter and drier weather is forecast for the winter wheat Plains, which should help advance the winter wheat harvest, with good rains forecast for the spring wheat belt,” said Hoops.
Conditions will also improve in the Canadian Prairies, added Terry Reilly, senior agricultural strategist at Marex.
—Additional reporting by Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson in Beijing and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris.
