Chicago grains settle near 2020 lows on good crop outlook, demand doubts

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Soy closed near October 2020 low on weak demand and beneficial weather
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Corn slips on beneficial rain in the U.S. Midwest
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Wheat continues slide on advancing U.S. harvest and cheap Russian exports
(Updates with closing prices)
By Heather Schlitz
CHICAGO, July 30 (Reuters) – Chicago corn, wheat and soybean futures fell on Tuesday to settle near their lowest levels since 2020 as U.S. crop data and weather charts reinforced expectations of big harvests while worries about Chinese demand also hung over commodity markets.
Rains forecast for the U.S. Midwest are expected to benefit the region’s crop, which notched high condition ratings in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Monday crop progress report.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) settled down 18-1/4 cents at $10.21-1/4 per bushel, a day after dipping to $10.18, the lowest on a continuous chart of the most-active contract since October 2020.
CBOT corn ended down 7-1/4 cents at $4.05 per bushel, hovering near a November 2020 low.
CBOT wheat ended down 7 cents at $5.24 per bushel, continuing to trade near 2020 lows. Wheat futures have been under pressure from an advancing U.S. harvest and low Russian wheat prices.
In its weekly crop progress report on Monday, USDA rated 67% of soybean crops and 68% of corn as being in good-to-excellent condition.
“There’s no real weather threats right now,” said Jim Gerlach, president of A/C Trading.
Rains have also allayed concerns about hot, dry weather in the previous week damaging the corn and soy crop.
“We’ve seen a pretty sharp turnaround in the discussions about weather,” said Rich Nelson, strategist at Allendale.
U.S. farmers continue to sit on large supplies of old-crop soybeans and corn, adding pressure to prices.
“You’ve reached a seasonally tough time of the year where anyone who hasn’t sold has to sell before harvest to free up bin space,” said Gerlach. (Reporting by Heather Schlitz in Chicago Aditional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Bernadette Christina in Jakarta Editing by Deepa Babington and Matthew Lewis)