CANBERRA — Chicago corn futures rose on Tuesday thanks to bargain-buying and short-covering, but expectations for a large US harvest limited gains, holding prices close to Monday’s contract lows.
Soybeans edged lower amid plentiful supply from the Americas. Wheat futures climbed, but remain under pressure from northern hemisphere harvests pouring new supply into the market.
The most active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.2 percent at $4.19 a bushel by 0407 GMT. The December delivery contract hit a low of $4.07-1/2 on Monday.
CBOT soybeans edged down 0.1 percent to $10.06 a bushel after touching $9.98-1/4 on Monday, their lowest level since April 9.
Wheat was up 0.3 percent at $5.43 a bushel, though prices remain near May’s 5-year low of $5.17-1/4.
Crop-friendly US weather conditions have hung over the corn and soy markets in recent weeks.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Monday that 74 percent of the US corn crop and 70 percent of its soybean crop were in good-or-excellent condition – the highest July ratings since 2016.
That said, speculators expecting a big corn harvest have built up large short positions, and any indication of less-than-perfect progress for the crop could trigger short covering, StoneX analyst Arlan Suderman said in a note.
Corn had been oversold, wrote analysts at JPMorgan. “We remain fundamentally constructive on CBOT corn and see value for consumers at current levels,” they said.
China, the world’s biggest soybean buyer, imported record volumes of soy in June, a Reuters calculation of customs data showed, driven by a surge in shipments from top supplier Brazil.
