*
Drier forecasts seen favorable for corn planting
*
Oil jumps on surprise OPEC+ output cuts
*
Flash sales of corn to Mexico, soyoil to unknown
destination
(Adds closing prices, changes headline, changes bullets)
By Cassandra Garrison
MEXICO CITY, April 3 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean and
wheat futures closed higher on Monday, boosted by a rally in
energy markets and concerns over U.S. crop conditions.
Corn closed lower, however, as weather forecasts showed
slightly drier conditions that would be favourable to planting,
analysts said.
Oil prices spiked after a surprise announcement by OPEC+ on Sunday to cut more production, pushing up prices of some crops that are also used to make biofuel.
Soybeans stayed higher after the U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) on Friday projected 2023 soybean plantings
near the low-end of analyst estimates and said soy stocks were
down 13% from a year ago.
"It's all about energy giving us a push up and then a
hangover effect from the crop report," said Don Roose, president
of U.S. Commodities.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of
Trade (CBOT) settled up 16-1/2 cents at $15.22 per bushel,
after hitting a high not seen since March 9 earlier in the
session.
Corn settled down 2-3/4 cents at $6.57-3/4 per bushel.
CBOT wheat settled up 1-1/4 cent at $6.93-1/2 per
bushel.
Only 28% of the U.S. winter wheat crop was rated in good to
excellent condition, a U.S. plant progress report showed.
The forecast for the central U.S. corn belt showed drier
conditions over the next two weeks. Corn planting was 2%
complete, in line with last year, the plant progress report
showed.
Adding to wheat supply uncertainty, Louis Dreyfus Company
said on Monday it will stop exporting Russian grain from July 1,
joining other global merchants in dropping activities in the
world's biggest wheat-exporting country.
Private exporters reported the sale of 150,000 tonnes of corn
to Mexico and the sale of 20,000 tonnes of soyoil to unknown
destinations for delivery during the 2022/23 marketing year.
(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison in Mexico City, Gus Trompiz in
Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Sherry
Jacob-Phillips, Sona Cheema, Ed Osmond, David Gregorio and
Sonali Paul)
