By Christopher Walljasper
CHICAGO, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Chicago soybeans ended stronger on Wednesday after trading both sides of even and hitting the highest in nearly five months, supported by extreme weather in South America that could result in yield losses.
Corn eased after also rallying on South American weather risks, while wheat followed.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1added 5 cents to end at $13.94-3/4 a bushel and hit a session peak of $13.99, its highest since July 20.
Corn Cv1lost 7-1/4 cents to $6.02-1/4 a bushel and CBOT wheat Wv1 fell 9-1/4 cents to $7.60-3/4 a bushel.
“A little bit of correction selling and maybe some farm selling,” said Jack Scoville, market analyst at The Price Futures Group. “We had a heck of a rally yesterday.”
A hot, dry spell in Argentina and southern Brazil has shifted attention back to potential yield losses for soy and corn crops in the major exporting countries.
Weather in Argentina has changed drastically since mid-December, with dryness threatening corn crops as they enter critical development stages, analysts said.
Meanwhile, excessive rainfall in Northern Brazil hampered the early harvest and threatened to erode crop quality.
“Bean production is getting hurt by all the moisture,” said Dan Smith, senior risk manager at Top Third Ag Marketing. “These are the beans they should be cutting right now and bringing to port for harvest. They can’t get to them right now, because it’s too wet.”
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.
Brazil’s soybean exports are expected to reach 3.375 million tonnes in January, while corn exports will likely reach 2.59 million tonnes, according to agricultural association ANEC.
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 Christopher Walljasper; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; editing by Barbara Lewis and David Gregorio)
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