Global grain and oilseed markets

According to a sample survey, on Thursday, spot rates for corn and soybeans were generally stable at river terminals and elevators in the U.S. Midwest. U.S. soybean futures rose on technical buying at the end of the session and closed higher on Thursday after concerns about the lack of sales to top importer China led the market to drop to 3.5-week lows. Technical buying factors also supported corn futures despite expectations of a record U.S. harvest this fall. Meanwhile, wheat prices fell to new lows amid abundant global supplies. Corn and soybean prices have generally been falling this week, despite concerns that U.S. government production forecasts do not account for reduced yields due to disease pressure in some areas of the Midwest agricultural belt. However, the corn crop is forecast to break previous records, and the soybean crop is likely to be one of the largest in history. The absence of Chinese purchases of new-crop U.S. soybeans amid trade tensions between Beijing and ...