Forexpros – Corn futures edged lower on Wednesday, pulling back from four-day high as favorable weather in the U.S. and China eased concerns over global crop conditions.
On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, corn futures for September delivery traded at USD6.8612 a bushel during European morning trade, shedding 0.62%.
It earlier fell as much as 0.75% to trade at a daily low of USD6.8562 a bushel.
The U.S. National Weather Service said on Tuesday that as much as 0.75 inches (1.9 centimeters) of rain was expected to fall over key corn growing regions in the U.S. northern and southern plains over the next 48 hours.
The weather group added that a heat wave that swept across the U.S. Midwest over the past week was expected to moderate starting July 29, easing worries about heat-reduced crop yields.
Agricultural traders pay close attention to the weather because farmers need favorable conditions to grow large crops to replenish low inventories.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly 62% of U.S. corn crops were in ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ condition as of last week, while 14% of the crop was rated ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’.
Almost 72% of U.S. corn was rated ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ in the same week a year earlier, while only 9% was rated ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’.
Meanwhile, industry weather group Telvent DTN said earlier that favorable weather in North China was expected to support existing corn crops and aid planting of crops for next season.
The encouraging Chinese crop outlook added to worries that China would import less corn from the U.S. and increase its reliance on domestic supplies.
The U.S. is both the world’s largest corn producing nation and the world’s largest exporter of the grain, while China is the world’s second largest corn consumer.
Elsewhere on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, soybeans for September delivery dipped 0.1% to trade at USD13.8038 a bushel, while wheat for September delivery eased down 0.13% to trade at USD6.9300 a bushel.
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