CBOT soybeans, corn slide to multi-week lows as harvest advances

According to Business Recorder, Chicago soybean and corn futures fell on Tuesday as traders reduced their long positions while US farm harvests moved ahead across the Midwest. Benchmark soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade slid 0.16 per cent to $12.51-1/2 a bushel by 0332 GMT, hitting an eight-week low. Scattered rain slowed fieldwork in some Midwest areas last week, though drier weather is expected through week's end.

The USDA said on Monday that 64 per cent of soybeans and 44 per cent of corn had been gathered, both lagging expectations. Winter wheat planting reached 63 per cent, short of the 65 per cent that had been anticipated. Harvest pressure outweighed renewed Chinese demand, even after Monday's confirmation of 114,000 metric tons of American soybeans sold privately to China. Total confirmed sales to China now stand at 1.472 million tons across four days.

Corn fell 0.32 per cent to $4.65-1/2 a bushel, its lowest in over two months, while wheat slipped 0.11 per cent to $6.54-1/2 a bushel, a level not seen for more than two months. Josh Lawrence of IKON Commodities said the market mood stayed cautious as US harvests added to supply. Lawrence added that Russian and Ukrainian cargoes keep moving despite curbs, and Australian and Argentine supplies give buyers wide choice. Export prices for Russian wheat dipped a little last week, and analysts lifted their October shipment projections.