SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat futures slid on Friday and were set for their biggest monthly drop since last November, as forecasts of rains in US Plains and expectations of ample world supplies weighed on the market.
Corn hit its lowest in nine months while soybeans ticked lower. The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.4% at $6.26-3/4 a bushel, as of 0330 GMT, corn dropped 0.3% at $5.79-3/4 a bushel and soybeans added 0.5% to $14.10-1/2 a bushel.
Wheat has lost 9.3% in April, the market’s biggest monthly drop since November, corn hit its lowest since July at $5.78 a bushel and soybeans are down 6.3% this month, the biggest monthly decline since June.
Forecasts of rains in drought-hit US Plains are boosting expectations of plentiful supplies and adding pressure on Chicago wheat prices. The corn market is facing pressure after the US Department of Agriculture said private exporters cancelled sales of 233,000 tonnes of US old-crop corn to China, underscoring concerns that a large Brazilian crop was diverting demand from the United States. Net sales of US corn for shipment in the current and upcoming marketing years fell to a 15-week low of 400,000 tonnes in the week ended April 20, USDA data showed.
On Thursday, Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat futures closed lower again amid weaker European prices and better weather for Canadian planting, analysts said.
US net sales of 155,700 metric tons (MT) of wheat for 2022/2023 for the week ended April 20 were down 40 percent from the previous week and 7 percent from the prior 4-week average, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
The European Commission cut its forecast for European Union exports of common wheat, or soft wheat, this season to 31 million tonnes from 32 million expected a month ago, and sharply raised its outlook for wheat stocks.
Russia sent the first shipment from a new grain terminal at Port Vysotsky, near St Petersburg, the country’s Centre for Grain Quality Assessment said.
The most-actively traded Chicago Board of Trade July soft red winter wheat futures contract dropped 12-3/4 cents to settle at $6.29-1/4 a bushel. The most-active contract fell to $6.25-1/2 in the session, the lowest since July 2021.
KC hard red winter wheat for July delivery ended down 4-1/2 cents at $7.78-3/4 a bushel and MGEX July spring wheat futures last traded 25-3/4 cents lower at $7.87-1/4 a bushel.
The front-month MGEX spring wheat contract last traded down 38 cents at $7.70 a bushel. Algeria’s state grains agency OAIC is believed to have bought milling wheat in an international tender
The Taiwan Flour Millers’ Association issued an international tender to purchase an estimated 51,925 tonnes of grade 1 milling wheat to be sourced from the United States.
Iraq’s state grains buyer is believed to have purchased about 150,000 tonnes of wheat expected to be sourced from Australia in an international tender restricted to a limited number of participants, European traders said.
CBOT corn rebounds to end week higher
Chicago Board of Trade corn futures closed the week higher on Friday amid short covering, rebounding from a nine-month low earlier in the week. The Kremlin restated its position that parts of the Black Sea grain deal related to Russia’s agricultural exports are not being fulfilled, and said the outlook for the deal is “not very good”.
EU governments agreed to extend by a year the suspension of duties and quotas on imports from Ukraine to help its economy during the war with Russia. US corn shippers should be in their peak season, but key buyer China has cancelled cargoes this week, placing more scrutiny on export potential, particularly with a massive harvest expected out of Brazil by mid-year.
The benchmark Chicago Board of Trade July corn futures contract settled up 3-1/2 cents at $5.85 a bushel. The most-active contract hit $5.72 earlier in the week, the lowest since July 2022. Chinese authorities should strengthen supervision of trials of genetically modified crops and prevent illegal GM seed being produced and planted, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said.
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