*
Wheat futures rise 1% after falling for 4 consecutive
sessions
*
Crop-friendly weather weighs on corn, soybeans; market
eyes USDA
report
(Adds quote in paragraph 3, updates prices)
By Naveen Thukral
SINGAPORE, May 12 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures rose
on Friday after four consecutive sessions of losses as
bargain-buying supported prices, although expectations of ample
global supplies capped gains.
Soybeans edged higher, while corn was largely unchanged as
slowing U.S. exports kept a lid on prices.
"Talk of good weather for a fast start to the crop plus a
strong rally in the U.S. dollar were seen as bearish forces,"
commodities research firm Hightower said in a report. "In
addition, the export market remains slow, and traders are
positioning ahead of USDA's supply-demand report."
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade
(CBOT) added 0.9% to $6.33 a bushel as of 0407 GMT. Soybeans rose 0.3% to $14.09-1/2 a bushel and corn was
unchanged at $5.82-1/4 a bushel.
For the week, wheat is down 4.1%, corn has given up 2.3% and
soybeans have lost nearly 2%. All three market closed higher
last week.
Falling demand for U.S. supplies is weighing on prices. The
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Thursday that
weekly export sales of corn totalled just 340,400 tonnes.
Wheat export sales were 359,900 tonnes and soybean export
sales came in at 112,300 tonnes.
The USDA will release its closely watched monthly World
Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report on Friday, which
will include forecasts for the 2023/24 marketing year for the
first time.
Analysts were expecting the report to show that supplies of
corn and soybeans will rise sharply in the coming year.
In the wheat market, talks over the Black Sea export deal
remain at the centre stage, even though plentiful global
supplies keeping a lid on prices.
Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations discussed on
Thursday U.N. proposals to extend a deal allowing the safe Black
Sea export of Ukraine grain, which Moscow has threatened to quit
on May 18 over obstacles to its grain and fertilizer exports.
Argentina's average soybean yield for the 2022/23 season
fell in the last week, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said
Thursday, as the ongoing harvest showed the toll of a historic
drought that has crippled the country's critical agriculture
sector.
Current production for the 2022/23 soybean season is
estimated at 22.5 million tonnes, much lower than the 48 million
tonnes forecast at the beginning of the season in September.
However, Conab, Brazil's food supply and statistics agency,
has raised its forecast for Brazilian soybean and corn
production, citing favourable conditions in spite of the effects
of the La Niña weather pattern, which caused drought in the
south of the country early in the season.
In its May forecast report released on Thursday, Conab
predicted Brazilian farmers will harvest a record 154.8 million
tonnes of soybeans, 23.3% more than in the previous season, and
a record 125.5 million tonnes of corn, 11% above last year.
Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT corn, wheat and
soyoil futures contracts on Thursday, traders said. They were
net buyers of soymeal, and net even in soybeans. (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
