GRAINS-Corn sags as bumper US crop harvest advances, soybeans retreat

By Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn futures fell on Monday, retreating from a two-month high set on Friday, as market players focused on projections for a record-large U.S. harvest, analysts said.

Soybean futures turned lower as worries resurfaced about export demand from top global buyer China. U.S. and Chinese officials met in Spain and reached a potential deal on the short-video app TikTok, but made no mention of agricultural commodities.

Wheat futures inched higher on short-covering and news that top global supplier Russia planned to hike wheat export taxes.

CBOT December corn CZ25 settled down 6-3/4 cents at $4.23-1/4 per bushel and November soybeans SX25 ended down 3-1/2 cents at $10.42-3/4 a bushel. CBOT December wheat WZ25 finished 1-1/2 cents higher at $5.25 a bushel.

Corn futures fell as the market digested Friday's larger-than-expected U.S. corn production estimate from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The government trimmed its yield forecast, as analysts expected, but raised its acreage figure and pegged the crop at a record-large 16.8 billion bushels.

Given high levels of crop disease and dry late-summer weather, some market players believe the USDA will lower its production estimates later this autumn. Nonetheless, farmers and brokers are still bracing for a huge harvest.

"I think this just brought us back to reality," said Tom Fritz, an analyst with EFG Group in Chicago.

Soybean futures fell but found underlying support from bullish monthly U.S. soybean crush data. The National Oilseed Processors Association said its members crushed 189.810 million bushels of soybeans in August, topping a range of trade expectations. The total was down 3.0% from the previous month but up 20.1% from the August 2024 crush.

Seasonal pressure from the start of the U.S. harvest hung over markets. After the futures market closed, the USDA said in a weekly progress report that the corn harvest was 7% complete, matching the five-year average for this time of year but below analyst estimates. The soybean harvest was 5% complete, matching trade expectations and ahead of the five-year average of 3%.

CBOT wheat futures firmed on bargain-buying after the benchmark December contract WZ25 set a life-of-contract low last week.

Additional support stemmed from news that Russia will increase its wheat export duty almost threefold starting on September 17.