Soybeans sink as good South America weather boosts crop outlooks
Record Brazilian crop outlook caps Chicago soybean futures
Rain hits Australia's wheat harvest causing quality downgrades
New throughout, updates prices, market activity and comments; new byline, changes dateline, previous SINGAPORE/PARIS
By Karl Plume
CHICAGO, Dec 4 (Reuters) - U.S.soybean futures fell on Wednesday as favorable crop weather in South America and concerns about the incoming Trump administration's hawkish approach to trade with top importer China.
Wheat futures fell to contract lows on dull demand for U.S. supplies before a moderate short-covering bounce. Corn futures eased.
Declines in soybeans anchored grains in general as planting in Brazil was nearly complete and several private forecasters have raised their soy harvest outlooks for the world's top supplier over the past week.
"People are paying more attention to South American weather and they're finding out the situation is good so it's getting tougher and tougher to rally the market," said Jack Scoville, vice president at the Price Futures Group.
Global export demand is also shifting from U.S. to Brazilian soybeans, which have declined in price in recent days, according to traders.
Meanwhile, concerns about future Chinese demand for U.S. soy have weighed on the market, particularly new-crop contracts, amid rising trade tensions .
Chicago Board of Trade January soybeans SF25 were down 8-1/4 cents at $9.83-1/2 a bushel by 12:45 p.m. CST (1845 GMT), while September 2025 through November 2026 futures struck fresh contract lows.
March corn futures CH25 were 1-1/2 cents lower at $4.30-3/4 a bushel.
CBOT March wheat WH25 was up 3/4 cent at $5.48-1/4 a bushel after earlier falling to a contract low of $5.40-1/4. All other contracts apart from spot December also posted new lows.
Wheat recovered from earlier lows on worries about crops in key global production areas.
Heavy rainfall hit Australia's bumper wheat harvest causing widespread quality downgrades, according to analysts and traders.
In top exporterRussia, the share of winter crops in poor condition or have not sprouted is at an unprecedented level of over 37%, analysts from ProZerno center said, citing state weather data.
Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Elaine Hardcastle and David Gregorio
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