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Wheat rises after 2 sessions of losses, U.S. weather
supports
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Soybeans little changed, drought to further cut Argentine
crop
(Updates prices)
By Naveen Thukral
SINGAPORE, March 7 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures
rose for the first time in three sessions on Tuesday, as the
market recovered from its lowest in 17 months on support from
dryness which is curbing U.S. yield potential.
Soybeans were largely unchanged, with prices underpinned by
a drought reducing production in Argentina.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade
(CBOT) rose 0.4% to $6.97-3/4 a bushel, as of 0330 GMT, after
sliding to its weakest since September 2021 on Monday.
Soybeans were flat at $15.29 a bushel and corn rose 0.2% to $6.38 a bushel.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National
Agricultural Statistics Service in a weekly crop report on
Monday rated 17% of the winter wheat in top producer Kansas in
good to excellent condition, down from 19% a week earlier.
Gains in wheat prices were limited by expectations that a
grain corridor deal in the Black Sea will be extended.
Russian wheat prices declined last week, and Turkey's
foreign minister said Ankara is working hard to extend the safe
shipping agreement that enables Ukraine to export grain, which
expires in mid-March.
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics
raised its estimate of its 2022/23 wheat harvest to a record
39.2 million tonnes, from 36.6 million tonnes previously.
Australia is expected to report record-breaking agricultural
exports in the current financial year, the government said on
Tuesday, after years of high rainfall boosted yields.
In the soybean market, the sale of Brazilian crop has
reached 35.4% of the estimated production in the 2022/2023
cycle, according to agribusiness consultancy Safras & Mercado on
Monday, lagging last year's level and the historical average.
Brazilian farmers had sold 48.5% of their crop at this time
last year, while the five-year average for farmer selling in the
period is 51.7%, Safras said, citing data collected up to last
Friday.
The USDA confirmed private sales of 110,000 tonnes of U.S.
corn to Japan and another 182,400 tonnes to unknown
destinations, but the volumes fell short of what some traders
had expected, given widespread chatter last week of China
seeking corn.
The agency reported export inspections of U.S. corn in the
latest week at nearly 900,000 tonnes, the biggest weekly tally
since July, but weekly inspections of U.S. soybeans and wheat
fell below trade expectations.
Traders were positioning ahead of the USDA's monthly
supply/demand report on Wednesday, in which analysts expect the
government to cut its forecasts of Argentina's soybean and corn
harvests.
Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT soybean and soymeal
futures contracts on Monday, traders said. They were net sellers
of CBOT wheat, corn and soyoil contracts. (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Rashmi Aich and
Subhranshu Sahu)
