Soybeans extend losses as record Brazilian crop weighs

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SINGAPORE — Chicago soybean futures lost more ground on Wednesday, with pressure from freshly harvested record Brazilian crop entering the market.

Wheat ticked lower, although risks to Black Sea supplies from the ongoing war in Ukraine limited decline.

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“Uncertainty on the Argentina weather continues to provide some support, but traders also see increasing harvest pressure from Brazil,” the Hightower said in a report.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 0.4% to $15.31-1/2 a bushel, as of 0319 GMT. Wheat gave up quarter of a cent to $7.85-3/4 a bushel and corn fell 0.2% to $6.81-1/4 a bushel.

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The Brazilian soybean harvest was 17% complete by Thursday, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, while Scoville noted that progress was more advanced in Mato Grosso, Brazil’s biggest soybean state.

Brazilian consultancy Agroconsult lowered its estimate of the country’s soybean harvest to 153 million tonnes, down from 153.4 million tonnes previously, but still the largest on record if realized.

Traders continued to monitor war risks to Black Sea grain supplies. In the latest Russian criticism of a wartime agreement allowing Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea, Moscow said on Monday it would be “inappropriate” to extend the deal unless sanctions affecting its agricultural exports were lifted.

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News that military officials in Ukraine issued a warning on Tuesday of a high risk of naval mines drifting around the port of Odesa kept attention on potential disruption to grain trade as fighting in Ukraine intensifies.

India’s 2023 wheat production is likely to rise 4.1% to a record 112.2 million tonnes, the government said on Tuesday, as higher prices prompted farmers to expand crop-growing areas with high-yielding varieties and the weather remained favorable.

China will increase its efforts to boost the output of soybeans and edible oils, state media reported late on Monday, citing a key rural policy document, as it continues to push for greater self-sufficiency in its key food supplies.

Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT soybean, wheat, soymeal and corn futures contracts on Tuesday and net buyers of soyoil futures, traders said. (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Rashmi Aich)