GRAINS-Wheat drops 1% on ample Russian supplies; corn, soybeans down
Chicago wheat slid more than 1% on Tuesday with the market giving up previous session’s gains as expectations of a bumper harvest in Russia, the world’s biggest exporter of the grain, pressured prices.
Corn and soybeans inched lower.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 was down 1.1% at $6.09-1/4 a bushel, as of 0120 GMT. Corn Cv1 fell 0.3% to $6.02-1/4 a bushel and soybeans Sv1 slid 0.5% to $13.30-1/2 a bushel.
* Export prices of Russian wheat are softening further in anticipation of a new harvest and amid low demand from global importers, analysts said.
* A deal to allow Ukraine to export its grain safely across the Black Sea was extended last week for two months.
* Russia, however, warned the West on Monday that a deal allowing Ukrainian grain to be exported from the Black Sea would cease unless a United Nations agreement aimed at overcoming obstacles to Russian grain and fertiliser exports was fulfilled.
* In the corn market, plentiful supplies from Brazil weighed on prices. Brazil’s total corn production in 2022/23 is expected to hit 127.4 million tonnes, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, raising its April estimate of 125.1 million tonnes as growers start to harvest their second crop.
* The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to issue a weekly update on corn and soybean planting progress and its first condition ratings of the season for the corn crop later in the day. The government has projected supplies of both crops will rise sharply in the coming year due to forecasts for record harvests.
* Heavy rain has flooded wheat fields in China’s central Henan province, just days ahead of the harvest, pushing up prices and raising concerns about the quality of this year’s crop in the world’s top consumer of the grain.
* Large speculators increased their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week ended May 23, regulatory data released on Friday showed.
* The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in CBOT wheat and switched to a net short position in soybeans.
MARKET NEWS
* European stock indexes edged lower on Monday and euro zone bond yields dropped, but news that the U.S. had reached a debt ceiling deal over the weekend kept Wall Street futures positive. MKTS/GLOB
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
0900 EU Consumer Confid. Final May
1400 US Consumer Confidence May
(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
This article has been republished from Nasdaq