Soybeans futures drop more than 4pc

LONDON: Soybean futures dropped more than 4 percent on the weekend after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) projected larger-than-expected crop yields in the United States and said US and global stocks of the oilseed would swell to record highs.

"The trade’s going to have to calculate in much larger crops in the US that, for now, more than outweigh production problems outside the US.”

In its monthly supply and demand report, the USDA projected a record-large 2018 US soybean crop and the highest US corn yield on record.

US soybean stocks at the end of the 2018/19 season next August were seen swelling to an unprecedented 785 million bushels.

The agency increased its export outlook for US soybeans, but traders remain nervous about the country´s deepening trade war with China, the world´s top soy importer.

Chicago Board of Trade November soybeans were down 37 cents, or 4.1 percent, at $8.67 a bushel.

CBOT December corn fell 7-3/4 cents, or 2 percent, to $3.75 a bushel, a two-week low. Soybean and corn were on pace for their first weekly declines in four weeks.