CHICAGO: US corn and soybean futures eased on Tuesday on pressure from abundant global supplies and weakening demand for US offerings on the export market, traders said.

“The world supplies are still large. The crop in South America continues to grow as harvest continues to progress in Argentina,” said Don Roose, analyst at US Commodities in West

Des Moines, Iowa. “I think that is a weight on the market.”

Wheat futures ended lower after bouncing between negative and positive territory throughout the session. Technical selling and forecasts for rains in the US Plains pressured the market into the close, analysts said.

“Weather models were a little wetter for the Plains,” CHS Hedging’s Kevin Stockard said in a research note. “The market is cautiously optimistic and futures reacted sharply lower.”

Soybeans posted the biggest declines, falling for the third day in a row and hitting a one-week low.

Chicago Board of Trade soybeans for May delivery ended down 7-1/2 cents at $ 9.71 a bushel. CBOT May corn was 2 cents lower at $ 3.83 a bushel.

“Beans were under pressure all day long off of cheap export offers out of Argentina, as harvest is ramping up down there,” Charlie Sernatinger, global head of grain futures at ED&F Man Capital, said in a note to clients.

Analysts expect the US Agriculture Department’s monthly supply and demand report on Thursday to show domestic end stocks of soybeans for the 2014/15 crop year at 370 million bushels, down from the government’s March estimate but still the highest in eight years.

CBOT soft red winter wheat for March delivery dropped 1-3/4 cents to $ 5.26 a bushel. Prices fell to a session low of $ 5.17-3/4 a bushel before finding support near the 20-day moving average.

Forecasts for rain in dry areas of the US hard red winter wheat belt next week hung over the market. Improving conditions also were seen boosting crop health in Russia and Ukraine following a dry autumn, adding to the pressure on wheat prices on Tuesday.