Corn nears two-week low after USDA raises crop outlook; soy rallies
New throughout; updates prices, adds quotes, changes byline, changes dateline from previous PARIS/BEIJING
CHICAGO, Sept 12 (Reuters) -Chicago Board of Trade corn futures fell to their lowest in nearly two weeks on Thursday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture raised its estimate of the U.S. corn crop, bucking trade expectations for a cut.
Wheat futures followed corn lower while soybeans turned higher, rallying after a dip following the USDA's report.
As of 12:32 p.m. CDT (1732 GMT), benchmark CBOT December corn Cv1 was down 2-1/2 cents at $4.02-1/4 per bushel after hitting $3.97, its lowest since Aug. 30. CBOT wheat Wv1 was down 4 cents at $5.75-1/4 a bushel while soybeans Sv1 were up 6 cents at $10.06-1/2 a bushel.
Corn futures sagged after the USDA in a monthly supply/demand report raised its estimate of the U.S. 2024 corn yield to a record-high 183.6 bushels per acre (bpa), from 183.1 last month. Analysts surveyed by Reuters on average had expected a slight reduction after a Midwest dry spell last month stressed crops.
The USDA forecast corn production at 15.186 billion bushels, the second-biggest harvest in history.
"The USDA bumping corn yield up a little bit wasn't really expected. It's going to catch some folks by surprise," said Angie Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting.
However, she noted, traders were turning their attention to field reports as the harvest began in the heart of the Corn Belt. The USDA said the corn harvest was 5% complete as of Sunday.
For soybeans, the government left its U.S. yield estimate unchanged from last month at 53.2 bpa, a record high that was in line with trade expectations.
Traders were monitoring the progress of Hurricane Francine, which barrelled across the U.S. South on Thursday, pounding the region with heavy rains and gusty winds. Several Louisiana ports and sections of the Mississippi River remained closed, affecting energy, agricultural and metals exports.
CBOT wheat futures declined but were underpinned by supply risks to the vital Black Sea export region following reports that a grain vessel had been hit by a missile in waters near Romania.
Meanwhile, Egypt's state grains buyer purchased 430,000 metric tons of Russian wheat in a private deal this week outside of the traditional tender process, sources told Reuters.
Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Mei Mei Chu in Bejing; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Sonia Cheema, David Goodman and Jane Merriman
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