Investing.com - U.S. corn futures fell to a fresh four-year low on Monday, as ongoing expectations for a record U.S. harvest continued to weigh.
On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, U.S. corn for September delivery hit a session low of $3.6513 a bushel, the weakest level since July 2010, before coming off the lows to last trade at $3.6538 during U.S. morning hours, down 1.41%, or 5.22 cents.
The September corn contract lost 2.17%, or 8.2 cents, on Friday to end at $3.7120 a bushel.
Corn fell on near-ideal crop weather in the U.S. Midwest that is bolstering expectations for a big harvest this autumn.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said earlier in the month that U.S. corn inventories at the end of August will total 1.246 billion bushels, up 8% from its forecast in June.
According to the agency, nearly 76% of the U.S. corn crop was rated “good” to “excellent” as of last week, the highest rating for this time of year since 1994.
Meanwhile, U.S. wheat for September delivery slumped 0.85%, or 4.5 cents, to trade at $5.2738 a bushel. The September wheat contract plunged 3.36%, or 18.4 cents, on Friday to settle at $5.3220.
Prices of the grain fell to a four-year low of $5.2420 on July 14 after the USDA raised its outlook for global inventories at the end of the 2014-15 season to 189.54 million metric tons from the 188.61 million tons forecast last month.
Elsewhere on the CBOT, U.S. soybeans for August delivery inched down 0.41%, or 4.83 cents, to trade at $11.7138 a bushel.
The August soybean contract slumped to a two-and-a-half-year low $11.5320 on July 15 as indications of ample global supplies drove prices lower.
The USDA raised its forecast for the U.S. soybean harvest by 4.5% to a record 3.8 billion bushels earlier in the month. The agency also increased its forecast for soybean inventories by 12% to 140 million bushels.
According to the agency, approximately 72% of the U.S. soy crop was rated “good” to “excellent” as of last week, the best condition for mid-July in 20 years.
Corn is the biggest U.S. crop, followed by soybeans, government figures show. Wheat was fourth, behind hay.