CHICAGO, June 20 (Reuters) - U.S. corn and soybean futures eased on Tuesday after the market rallied sharply at the end of last week on concerns that hot and dry weather will lead to harvest shortfalls in the fall.
But the most-recent forecasts remained unfavorable for crop prospects in key growing areas of the U.S. Midwest, limiting the declines, traders said.
"The massive pattern shift we expected into the end of this month has not happened, while temperatures hold safely above-normal now through June and right up into the beginning of the key month of July," StoneX chief commodities economist Arlan Suderman wrote in a research note.
The wheat market also was weakened by profit taking after the most-active Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat contract hit its highest in more than two months.
Poor export demand for U.S. supplies was seen as a bearish factor for wheat.
Algeria’s state grains agency OAIC is believed to have bought around 630,000 metric tons of milling wheat largely expected to be sourced from Russia in an international tender.
Large Russian exports have tempered worries over the possible breakdown of a Black Sea corridor agreement allowing shipments from war-torn Ukraine, which Moscow has repeatedly threatened to quit next month.
At 11:06 a.m. CDT (1606 GMT), CBOT July soft red winter wheat was down 1 cent at $6.87 after peaking at $7.00, the highest for the most-active contract since April 19.
CBOT December corn was down 3-3/4 cents at $5.93-3/4 a bushel and CBOT November soybeans were off 4 cents at $13.38-1/4 a bushel.
Grain markets were also awaiting weekly crop ratings from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Tuesday to gauge the impact of drought, as well as the possible release this week of U.S. targets for use of crop-based biofuels. (Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Matthew Chye in Singapore; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Jan Harvey and Aurora Ellis)
