CANBERRA, Aug 24 (Reuters) – Chicago corn futures shot to a three-year high on Monday, after a tour by analysts of U.S. farm regions last week found that crops were in worse condition than many expected.
Wheat futures also rose as tit-for-tat attacks by Russia and Ukraine continued to curtail exports from Black Sea ports. Soybeans fell, but prices were supported by strong export demand for U.S beans.
* The most-traded corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 2% at $5.18-3/4 a bushel at 0038 GMT after earlier reaching $5.20, the highest since August 2023.
* CBOT wheat climbed 1.1% to $7.07 a bushel and was within a whisker of July’s two-year high of $7.11-1/4.
* Soybeans were down 0.5% at $12.32-3/4 a bushel.
* CBOT corn is now up roughly 12% so far this month, with wheat up 11% and soybeans up 4%. * U.S. 2026 corn production will fall well below government forecasts, advisory service Pro Farmer said on Friday after a tour of seven major production states that found subpar crops hurt by adverse summer weather. * Elsewhere, crop ratings for French grain maize stabilised after dropping to their lowest on record during an exceptionally hot and dry summer, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed. * Large speculators significantly increased their net long positions in CBOT corn in the week to Aug. 18, according to regulatory data. * Attacks by Russia and Ukraine on each other’s shipping routes have brought their grain exports from the Azov and Black Sea basin to a virtual halt. Russia is the world’s biggest wheat exporter, and Ukraine is a major supplier.
* Share markets were flat in Asia on Monday and oil prices eased as investors awaited details of threatened U.S. sanctions on Iran due later in the session, while the Canadian dollar dipped as a trade war loomed with its southern neighbour.
(Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
