Wheat drops to 3-month low on supply pressure; corn, soybeans ease
SINGAPORE, July 15 (Reuters) -Chicago wheat futures lost more ground on Monday, with prices dropping to their lowest levels in three months, as pressure from freshly harvested crops in the United States and Russia dragged down the market.
Corn prices fell amid expectations of higher U.S. output, while soybeans dropped to their lowest levels in four years.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active wheat contract in the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 was down 0.7% at $5.46-3/4 a bushel, as of 0020 GMT, having dropped earlier in the session to its lowest since April 15 at $5.45 a bushel.
* Corn Cv1 gave up 0.3% to $4.13-1/2 a bushel and soybeans Sv1 slid 0.5% to $10.60 a bushel, after falling to their lowest since 2020 at $10.56 a bushel earlier on Monday.
* Wheat prices have been weighed down by warm and dry weather, which is boosting harvest in U.S. and Russian growing regions.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) raised its estimate for corn production and cut the soybean production forecast on Friday, adjusting its estimates in line with the amount of acres planted with each crop.
* The USDA's forecast also predicted that the 2024/25 corn crop is poised to be the third largest in U.S. history, with corn end-stocks being the largest in six years, as of September 2025.
* Still, USDA estimated old-crop corn ending stocks would be 1.877 billion bushels, when traders had been expecting the USDA to set the number at 2.049 billion bushels.
* Ukraine's grain exports in the 2024/25 marketing season had risen to 1.5 million metric tons by July 12 from 894,000 tons a year earlier, agriculture ministry data showed on Friday.
* Large speculators increased their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week ended July 9, regulatory data released on Friday showed.
* The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and increased their net short position in soybeans.
MARKET NEWS
* U.S. bond futures slipped and the dollar firmed on Monday as investors wagered the attack on U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump made his victory more likely, while injecting a whole new level of political uncertainty into markets. MKTS/GLOB
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0200 China Urban Investment (YTD) YY June
0200 China Retail Sales YY June
0200 China GDP YY Q2
0200 China Unemp Rate Urban Area June
0900 EU Industrial Production MM, YY May
1000 EU Reserve Assets Total June
n/a UK Housing Price Rightmove MM, YY July
Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
