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Russia says Black Sea grain deal may be nearly over
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Parts of drought-hit Argentine soy fields to go
unharvested
(Updates with European trading, changes byline/dateline)
By Gus Trompiz and Naveen Thukral
PARIS/SINGAPORE, April 14 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat
eased on Friday to a new three-week low as the market remained
unperturbed by Russia's warnings it could pull out of a Black
Sea grain deal, focusing on sluggish export demand and improving
U.S. spring weather.
Soybeans edged down after Thursday's one-week high, with a
record Brazilian harvest tempering concern about drought losses
in Argentina.
Chicago corn was mixed, with nearby futures firm and
new-crop positions down slightly as the market assessed healthy
exports and signs of accelerating spring planting.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade
(CBOT) was down 0.4% at $6.64-1/4 a bushel by 1150 GMT.
It earlier fell to its lowest since March 24 at $6.61-1/4,
below a previous three-week trough on Thursday.
Euronext wheat was little changed near Thursday's
three-week low. Russia's foreign ministry on Thursday said there would be no
extension of the UN-brokered Black Sea grain deal beyond May 18
unless the West removed obstacles to Russian grain and
fertiliser exports.
A senior Russian diplomat, meanwhile, said on Friday the
West still has time to remove such obstacles.
"Wheat, both that traded on the CBOT and on Euronext, is
priced only marginally above its March low, with which the
market continues to more or less ignore the threat on the part
of Russia to terminate the grain deal with Ukraine," Commerzbank
analysts said.
Ongoing Ukrainian shipments through the corridor, despite
inspection delays, and large Russian exports have tempered
immediate worries about Black Sea wheat trade.
Weekly U.S. wheat export sales near the low end of market
expectations also maintained a subdued mood in the market. Warmer, drier weather for U.S. spring planting, including
spring wheat, were also curbing prices, taking attention away
from poor conditions for hard red winter wheat in the parched
southern Plains.
CBOT soybeans fell 0.3% to $14.96-3/4 a bushel.
Most-active corn added 0.5% to $6.555-3/4 a bushel.
Argentina's Buenos Aires grains exchange on Thursday said
farmers would likely leave large tracts of soy fields
unharvested due to damage from a historic drought.
But Brazilian farmers will produce record volumes of
soybeans and corn this season, state statistics agency Conab
said on Thursday.
The U.S. government announced large corn export sales to
China on Thursday.
(Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Susan Fenton)
Messaging: gus.trompiz.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))