Corn drops on US harvest pressure, wheat near 3-1/2-month low

Corn prices slipped on Tuesday as a swift US harvest pushed prices down, while wheat tumbled to a three-and-a-half-month low, trading near its weakest since early July due to hopes of Black Sea exports. Soybeans declined, dragged by plentiful US harvest supplies. "Seasonal harvest pressure is prompting funds to liquidate long positions," a trader based in Singapore explained.

Corn on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 0.3 percent to $4.53-1/2 per bushel, while wheat dropped 0.4 percent to $6.13-3/4 per bushel. Soybeans slipped 0.1 percent to $12.51 per bushel. Reports suggested Russia was considering methods to ensure safe grain transport across the Black Sea, with Russia in contact with Turkey about the matter, according to Interfax news agency.

The US soybean harvest stood at 79 percent complete as of Sunday, in line with expectations, while the corn harvest was 60 percent done, the USDA reported on Monday, ahead of the average estimate from a Reuters poll of 10 analysts. Soybean prices faced additional downward pressure from a weakening Brazilian currency, the world's biggest exporter of the oilseed.

The Brazilian real dropped about 12 percent against the US dollar in early trading on Monday, and the country's stock exchange briefly halted trading due to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's re-election, erasing bullish sentiment after his right-wing rival won the first round of voting earlier in the month.