SINGAPORE: Chicago soybeans edged down on Wednesday, trading near last session's seven-month low, while corn eased as crop-friendly weather in parts of the U.S. Midwest and stiff export competition anchored prices.

Wheat futures fell for a second session.

 

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) lost 0.2% to $13.61-1/4 a bushel, as of 0014 GMT, after dropping on Tuesday to its lowest since Oct. 19 at $13.58-3/4 a bushel.

* Corn gave up 0.4% to $5.79 a bushel and wheat slid 0.6% to $6.44-3/4 a bushel.

* Strong U.S. crop prospects pressured soybeans and corn. The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week projected record U.S. harvests of both crops in 2023, and then on Monday said the U.S. corn crop was 65% planted and soybean planting was 49% complete, ahead of their respective five-year averages.

* Weak demand in the export market added to the bearish outlook, given massive soybean and corn crops in rival supplier Brazil.

* For wheat, the market is keeping a close watch on negotiations to extend the Black Sea grain export deal.

* The deal allowing seaborne exports from Ukraine will most likely be renewed, market sources say, but even a veto by Russia would not stop Ukrainian supplies reaching global markets - though at higher cost.

* Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations have been holding talks on ways to extend a deal brokered in July allowing the safe export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, which is expiring on May 18.

* Soft wheat exports from the European Union in the 2022/23 season that started last July reached 27.17 million tonnes by May 14, up 12% compared with 24.33 million a year earlier, data published by the European Commission showed on Tuesday.

* The Buenos Aires grains exchange on Tuesday forecast Argentina's 2023/24 wheat harvest at 18 million tonnes, up 45%from the 12.4 million tonnes harvested last season (2022/23) as the country faced a historic drought.

* Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT soybean, corn, soyoil, wheat and soymeal futures contracts on Tuesday, traders said.

 

MARKET NEWS

* U.S. stocks closed lower on Tuesday and benchmark Treasury yields extended their rise as mixed economic data, weak corporate results and ongoing debt ceiling negotiations in Washington dampened investor risk appetite.

 

DATA/EVENTS (GMT, April) 0900 EU HICP Final MM, YY 1230 US Housing Starts Number (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; editing by Uttaresh Venkateshwaran)