Chicago wheat, corn, and soybeans prices retreated from their recent multi-month highs on Tuesday as markets assessed the impact of changing weather conditions in major production zones worldwide.
The most active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 0.9% to $6.43-1/4 per bushel, while CBOT soybeans edged down 0.3% to $12.44-3/4 per bushel and corn was 0.3% lower at $4.67-3/4 per bushel.
The grains had set multi-month highs earlier in the session, but the markets started to ease as an improved weekly score for U.S. winter wheat conditions tempered concerns about dryness in the U.S. Plains. Additionally, there were indications of better chances of rain in parched southern Russia in the week ahead.
The wheat market has been turbulent due to weather concerns in top exporter Russia, including dryness in the south and late frosts in some areas, as well as drought in some U.S. wheat belts. However, Commerzbank analysts said that “concerns about a tightening of supply therefore appear exaggerated at the moment.”
Soybeans and corn have been supported in recent days by floods in Brazil and wet weather that has slowed U.S. planting. But attention is now turning to the widely followed world supply and demand forecasts from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday, which will include the agency’s first full outlook for the 2024/25 season.
Overall, the improved weather outlook has prompted a retreat in Chicago grain prices from their multi-month highs, as markets weigh the impact of changing conditions in major production regions.