SINGAPORE: Chicago soybeans fell on Friday, with the market set for its third weekly drop on pressure from expectations of all-time high US output and slowing demand in top importer China.
Wheat and corn lost ground. The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) slid 0.2% to $9.66-1/4 a bushel as of 0149 GMT.
Wheat gave up 0.1% to $5.28 a bushel and corn fell 0.5% to $3.95 a bushel.
For the week, soybeans are down 3.6%, the biggest decline in a month, wheat has given up 2.7% and corn is little changed.
The US Department of Agriculture, earlier this week, raised its estimates for corn and soybean production from a month earlier, adding to expectations of hefty global supplies of both crops.
Traders are consolidating their positions ahead of next week’s ProFarmer crop tour. The annual tour of US Midwest corn and soybean fields is widely expected to find record yields.
“Record yield expectations have been laid out for US corn and soybeans, and it will be up to next week’s Pro Farmer Crop Tour to either reinforce or reject this narrative,” Karen Braun, a market analyst for Reuters, wrote in a column.
The crop tour, in its 32nd year, will run from Monday through Thursday. About 100 scouts will hit well over 1,000 corn and soybean fields across Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Indiana, Ohio and South Dakota to determine yield potential.
CBoT soybeans firm
The USDA reported net weekly US soybean export sales of 1,344,200 metric tons for 2024-25, topping analysts’ expectations for 400,000 to 1,000,000 metric tons.
The wheat market has been weighed down by ample Black Sea supplies although the market found some support from a Russian attack on Ukrainian port infrastructure.
Russia attacked the port infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa on Wednesday evening, injuring at least two people.
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