(Adds details, quotes; updates prices)
By Matthew Chye
SINGAPORE, March 3 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures
struggled to find direction on Friday, but were poised for
weekly losses, despite some support from concerns about supply
from top producer Argentina amid dry weather conditions.
Wheat edged lower, while corn held steady. Both commodities
were headed for weekly losses.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of
Trade (CBOT) was largely unchanged at $15.09 a bushel, as
of 0505 GMT.
Wheat was down 0.2% at $7.11-1/4 a bushel, while corn was steady at $6.33-1/2 a bushel.
For the week so far, soybeans were down 0.7%, corn dropped
about 2.4% and wheat lost 1.5%.
With the slow crush pace out of Argentina, it may take a
little more time for Brazil and the U.S. meal to ease the
tightness concerns for the global meal market, commodities
research firm Hightower said in a note.
The Buenos Aires grains exchange said on Thursday it planned
to cut its estimate for Argentina's soybean crop for the 2022/23
cycle for the fourth time as the country struggled with the
impact of drought and high temperatures.
The CBOT soybean May contract may retest a resistance
at $15.13-3/4 per bushel, a break above which could lead to a
gain to $15.22, Reuters technical analyst Wang Tao said. Ukraine sees no need to limit wheat exports for the upcoming
2023/24 July-June season, as the winter harvest looks to be
larger than expected, albeit smaller than in peacetime, a top
agriculture ministry official said on Thursday.
Iranian state agency Government Trading Corporation (GTC)
was believed to have purchased Russian-origin milling wheat in a
tender that closed on Wednesday, European traders said on
Thursday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release
the March crop supply-demand report, which will estimate 2022-23
U.S.-ending stocks for wheat, corn and soybeans, on Wednesday,
March 8, at 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT).
Commodity funds were net buyers of Chicago Board of Trade
soybean, wheat, soymeal and soyoil futures contracts and net
sellers of CBOT corn on Thursday, traders said. Asian shares rose on Friday after Wall Street reversed
losses on signals of a measured policy tightening approach from
the U.S. Federal Reserve as well as on prospects of a solid
economic recovery in China. (Reporting by Matthew Chye; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips
and Subhranshu Sahu)
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