Soybean futures continued to slide on Wednesday, with the market slumping to its lowest since 2020. Wheat also ended lower while corn was little changed.
Solid US production prospects weighed on soybeans, as did weak export demand. The USDA this morning announced a private export sale of 132,000 tonnes of new-crop soybeans to China – the first such sale to China for the 2024-25 marketing year. However, the news was largely shrugged off by the market. August beans fell 18 cents to $11.13 ¼, and November dropped 13 cents to $10.67.
Corn, also trading near four-year lows, was undermined by good production potential as well, with the driest areas of Illinois and Indiana benefiting Tuesday from heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Beryl. Meanwhile, mostly benign Midwest weather is in the forecast for the next week or so. Friday’s USDA supply-demand update is also expected to revise 2024-25 US corn production and ending stocks higher from last month. September corn was up 1 ¾ cents to $3.95 ¾, and December eased 1 ¼ cents to $4.07 ¼.
The quickly advancing US winter wheat harvest continued to overhang the wheat market today, with rising Russia production estimates helping to offset concern about a smaller European crop due to excessive wetness. September Chicago lost 10 ½ cents to $5.61 ½, September Kansas City fell 12 ¼ cents to $5.65 ½, and September Minneapolis dropped 6 ½ cents to $6.11.
