Soybeans plummet to four-year low on Brazil crop outlook
Corn ticks down on spillover weakness from soy
19 December 2024
2 minute read
By: Chicago soybean futures fell to a four-year low on Wednesday, pressured by bumper crop prospects in Brazil and a slide in soyoil prices after a proposed US government spending bill failed to include support for biodiesel, Reuters reported, citing traders.
Corn futures followed soybeans lower, while wheat seesawed as traders weighed a cut to Russian wheat production estimates against strong harvests in Australia and Argentina.
A stronger dollar, buoyed by expectations that the US Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, has also weighed on US grain and soy futures.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 24 cents to $9.52-1/2 a bushel as of 1800 GMT, after hitting $9.54-1/4 a bushel, its lowest point since September 2020.
Each soybean contract hit a lifetime low during Tuesday and Wednesday's session.
In Brazil, the world's biggest soybean producer and exporter, regular rain has eased drought and put the country on course for a record crop of 171.5 million metric tons, consultants AgRural said on Monday.
Soybeans were further dented by sharp losses for soyoil after news on Tuesday that a stopgap US government funding bill did not include support for biodiesel among other agriculture-related policies and spending.
Technical selling has also further propelled soybeans downward.
"It's a technical break that's attracting more selling as we go lower," Joe Davis, trader at Futures International, said.
CBOT corn was down 5-3/4 cents to $4.37-3/4 a bushel as it came under pressure from weakness in soybeans.
CBOT wheat was down 3 cents at $5.42 a bushel.
Consultants Sovecon cut their forecast for 2025 wheat production in Russia by 3 million metric tons to 78.7 million tons, citing that crop conditions were the worst in decades.
However, ongoing harvests in Argentina and Australia have exceeded expectations and pressured global prices.
