Corn extends gains on declining U.S. crop condition

By Naveen Thukral and Sybille de La Hamaide

SINGAPORE/PARIS, July 2 (Reuters) - Chicago corn futures extended gains on Tuesday as U.S. crop condition declined because of adverse weather in parts of the Midwest while soybean prices also gained and wheat retreated from the previous session's one-week high.

The most active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) <Cv1> added 0.5% to $4.22-3/4 a bushel by 1130 GMT, having climbed more than 3% in the previous session.

One Singapore-based trader said that a “big upside in prices” wasn't expected unless the adverse weather continues in the U.S. Midwest.

Wheat <Wv1> fell 1.1% to $5.83-1/2 a bushel while soybeans <Sv1> gained 0.8% to $11.18-1/4 a bushel.

The condition of the U.S. corn crop deteriorated in the latest week while national soybean ratings held steady after floods swamped portions of the northwestern Midwest, government data showed on Monday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) rated 67% of the corn crop as good to excellent in its weekly crop report, down 2 percentage points from a week ago. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected a decline of one percentage point.

The USDA attache in Brasilia cut its estimate for Brazil’s 2023/24 corn output to 150 million tons, citing recent floods in the state of of Rio Grande do Sul and lower yields across several states.

China is likely to import record volumes of soybeans in July, drawn by lower prices and the prospect of Donald Trump returning as president and reigniting trade tensions between Beijing and the United States, which was once China's top supplier of the oilseed.

Russian wheat export prices have declined for the fourth week in a row, tracking global markets amid news of an abundant harvest.

The price of 12.5% protein Russian new crop wheat scheduled free on board (FOB) with delivery in late July was $226 a metric ton at the end of last week, down $5 from a week earlier, according to the IKAR consultancy.

Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT corn futures and net buyers of soyoil, wheat, soymeal and soybean contracts on Monday, traders said. <COMFUND/CBT>

(Reporting by Naveen and Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Subhranshu Sahu and David Goodman)