BEIJING: Chicago soybean and corn dipped on Wednesday, trading near their lowest levels since 2020, as changing U.S weather patterns eased fears over hot weather conditions threatening crop yield.

Wheat dropped despite concerns over poor yields in France, the European Union's biggest grain producer.

 

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.12% at $10.20 a bushel, as of 0136 GMT, hovering at its lowest levels since October 2020.

* CBOT corn slipped 0.19% to $4.04-2/8 a bushel and wheat fell 0.52% to $5.21-2/8 a bushel, trading near their lowest levels since 2020.

* Forecast of rains in the U.S. Midwest is expected to benefit the region's crop, allaying earlier concerns that hot and dry weather would threaten harvest.

* France's main wheat crop may only reach 26 million metric tons this year, a level not seen since the 1980s, as harvest results confirm a plunge in yields following months of heavy rain, producers' group AGPB said on Tuesday.

* Tunisia's state grains agency is believed to have purchased about 125,000 metric tons of soft milling wheat and about 50,000 tons of durum in an international tender on Tuesday, European traders said.

* The European Union's 2024/25 season soft wheat exports stood at 1.85 million metric tons by July 28, down from the 2.99 million that had been shipped by the same date last year, European Commission data showed on Tuesday.

* Jordan's state grains buyer purchased about 50,000 metric tons of hard milling wheat to be sourced from optional origins in an international tender on Tuesday, traders said.

* Ukrainian agricultural holding Nibulon has signed a new deal with Romanian transport firm TTS to export 1.6 million metric tons of grains for the 2024/25 season, it said on Tuesday.

* In its weekly crop progress report on Monday, the USDA rated 67% of soybean crops and 68% of corn as being in good-to-excellent condition.

MARKETS NEWS

* Asian stocks clung to familiar ranges after contrasting results from tech bellwether Microsoft and chipmaker AMD suggested a divide in the AI landscape while the yen was firm ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy decision.

 

(Reporting by Mei Mei Chu; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)