GRAINS-Corn pauses after 18-month high with crop tour in focus
DBA•Soybeans and wheat also soften
Soybeans ticked down after rallying this week on mixed findings from the Pro Farmer field tour and a continuing run of export sales to China.
CBOT soybeans (Sv1) eased 0.4% to $12.32 a bushel.
Wheat paused after a four-week high as traders watched for signs that war disruption to Russian and Ukrainian exports will prompt importers to buy from alternative origins.
CBOT wheat (Wv1) was down 0.1% at $6.99 a bushel, holding near a four-week high of $7.08-3/4 from Thursday.
Tour findings and Black Sea disruption remain key focus
The market has been closely following reports from the Pro Farmer field tour after the U.S. Department of Agriculture cut its corn and soybean yield forecasts last week.
Scouts found some great crops in eastern areas of Iowa and Minnesota on Thursday, the final day of the four-day tour, but nothing to challenge expectations that this year's U.S. corn crop will fall short of last year's record.
Lower yields could tighten U.S. supply at a time of brisk demand for both corn and soybeans, while posing another risk to global availability as grain markets grapple with war disruption to massive Black Sea trade.
Global wheat importers are bracing for tighter supplies as tit-for-tat attacks by Russia and Ukraine on ports and vessels in recent weeks have shuttered grain terminals and forced shippers to delay or cancel loadings for dozens of cargoes during the peak export season.
"The logistical situation departing from the Russian and Ukrainian Black Sea ports shows little signs of improvement to date," Argus analysts said in a note.
"This situation leads wheat prices in other exporting countries, in particular in the Romanian and Bulgarian port areas, to appreciate in the perspective of a possible repositioning of demand."
