By Gus Trompiz and Naveen Thukral
PARIS/SINGAPORE, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Chicago soybeans were little changed on Wednesday, consolidating after hitting a five-month high as traders assessed latest weather forecasts in South America where hot and dry conditions have raised concerns about yield losses.
Corn inched lower after also rallying on South American weather risks, while wheat eased.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 was down 0.1% at $13.89 a bushel by 1138 GMT.
It earlier rose to $13.97-1/4, its highest since July 20, before facing chart resistance as it approached the $14 threshold.
Corn Cv1 was down 0.3% at $6.07-3/4 a bushel, easing from Tuesday’s one-week high.
A hot, dry spell in Argentina and southern Brazil, after rains last week, has shifted attention back onto potential yield losses for soy and corn crops in the major exporting countries.
However, two-week projections pointed to easing heat and increased rainfall from mid-January in those areas.
Brazil’s corn and soybean crop forecasts were scaled back on Monday by consultancy StoneX.
Weather in Argentina has changed drastically since mid-December, with dryness threatening corn crops as they enter critical development stages, analysts said.
Traders are waiting for early soybean harvest results in Brazil to gauge if favourable conditions in more northern regions offset expected losses in the south.
South American supply prospects will be a focus for grain markets in a monthly world crop report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) due on Jan. 12.
CBOT wheat Wv1 fell 1.0% to $7.62-1/2 a bushel.
Wheat prices have drawn support from corn, while also being underpinned by worsening crop conditions in parts of the U.S. Plains.
However, bumper harvests being gathered in Argentina and Australia have tempered global wheat supply concerns.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Uttaresh.V, Shounak Dasgupta and Pravin Char)
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