Grains-Corn, soybeans decline as US crop ratings top expectations
DBA•Most-active CBOT contracts
The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 0.4% to $4.71-1/4 a bushel as of 0330 GMT, after touching its highest since May 20 on Monday.
Soybeans gave up 0.3% to $12.23 a bushel, after reaching their highest since May 13 in the previous session.
Wheat rose 0.04% to $6.74-1/4 a bushel.
Black Sea attacks support wheat
Wheat prices inched up on worries about Black Sea shipments, with escalating attacks on grain cargoes providing support.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday kept condition ratings for the nation's corn and soybean crops mostly steady from the previous week, surpassing analyst expectations from a Reuters poll of 11 analysts.
The agency pegged condition ratings for the U.S. corn crop at 67%, one percentage point below the previous week's rating. Analysts had expected the agency would peg corn ratings at 66%.
It said 66% of the U.S. soybean crop is in good-excellent condition, up a percentage point from the previous week and above analyst expectations.
Wheat prices rose to a two-year high last week after attacks on grain ships and ports in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov by Ukraine and Russia.
Russian wheat export prices surged amid difficult shipping conditions in the Black Sea and a new wave of attacks in the Strait of Hormuz, analysts said on Monday.
