CANBERRA- Chicago wheat and corn futures steadied on Tuesday, after sharp declines in the previous session as data showed that the condition of US crops had improved, but soybeans slipped further to hit a four-year low.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.6 percent at $5.73-3/4 a bushel, with CBOT corn rising 0.1 percent to $4.08 a bushel and soybeans slipping 0.6 percent to $10.93-1/2 a bushel.
The three contracts fell by between 2.7 percent and 3.8 percent on Monday. Corn is within a whisker of its lowest since 2020 and wheat is around 50 cents above a four-year low hit in March.
“These are well supplied markets,” said Andrew Whitelaw at consultants Episode 3 in Canberra. Prices are so low that they should trigger some extra demand but a meaningful rebound will be difficult in the near term, he said.
Speculators are betting heavily on further price falls.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday increased the percentage of corn, soy and wheat crops in good-to-excellent condition. Its ratings were better than analysts expected.
The USDA rated 68 percent of corn and soy as good-to-excellent, the highest ratings for this time of year since 2020. It rated 75 percent of the wheat crop in good-to-excellent condition and said the wheat harvest – which has proceeded rapidly this year – was 63 percent complete.
