Improved weather conditions - rains in South America and warmer temperatures in the US Plains - further weighed on prices. Soyabean futures eased from Friday's three-week high at the Chicago Board of Trade. CBOT March corn was 4-1/4 cents lower at $3.47 per bushel at 12:18 pm CST (1818 GMT), holding just above its life-of-contract low of $3.46-1/2 from mid-December.
CBOT March wheat was down 3 cents to $4.27-3/4 and CBOT March soyabeans off 7 cents to $9.63-3/4. Wheat prices had been supported by fears that frigid weather might damage crops across key US producing regions, which are already struggling with persistent dry weather. Temperatures warmed up and rains arrived in parts of southern Plains wheat areas, alleviating some concerns about damage to plants, before bitter-cold conditions return next week, according to the Commodity Weather Group.
Meanwhile, rains fell in about half of Brazil's growing regions and about 30 percent of corn and soya areas in Argentina, the meteorologist said. But the extended forecast for Argentina remains dry, raising risks of reduced yields. USDA on Monday said about 1.2 million tonnes of US soyabeans were inspected for export in the latest week as well as 849,226 tonnes of corn and 234,418 tonnes of wheat, all relatively near analysts' expectations.