Corn futures fall amid high stocks

JAKARTA, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Chicago corn futures fell for a fourth consecutive session on Thursday amid higher-than-expected US stocks.

Corn lost 0,05% to $5-1/2 a bushel by 0245 GMT. The contract was traded in a tight range between $5 and $5.03 a bushel.

US farmers and grain handlers had 35% more corn in storage as of September 1 than a year earlier, the US Department of Agriculture said on Wednesday, a bigger-than-expected increase following a large harvest in 2025.

Spot basis bids for corn softened in the US Midwest on Wednesday, as forecasts called for improving weather that could promote harvest progress and grain movement, while hard red winter wheat basis bids were steady to weaker in the southern US Plains.

Wheat was down 0.15% to $6.74-3/4 a bushel, a second session of loss.

Grain consultancy Sovecon said on Wednesday it had cut its forecast for Russia's 2026/27 grain exports to 44.7 million metric tons, down from 49.4 million tons seen earlier, warning that Azov and Black Sea ports will remain shut until 2027.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.29% to $12.89-1/4 a bushel.

The US soybean crush likely dropped in August to an 11-month low of 6.317 million short tons, or 210.5 million bushels, analysts said, ahead of a monthly US Department of Agriculture report due on Thursday.

Spot basis bids for soybeans were mixed in the US Midwest on Wednesday as harvest delays continued to curb grain flow in some areas, while other sites lowered posted bids ahead of expected higher supplies in October, dealers said.