Chicago Board of Trade wheat, corn and soyabean and wheat futures fell on Wednesday, with all three major commodities on track for a second straight day of declines as a firmer dollar roiled prospects for US exports. Plentiful stocks of all three commodities also weighed on the grains market and traders said investors were still locking in profits from a short-covering rally that supported prices earlier in the month.
But currency moves keyed the declines, as the dollar's strength made US commodities relatively more expensive to overseas buyers just as the expanding harvest in South America provided importers with more options to fill orders.
The improving export environment for South American supplies will likely spark a pick-up in country movement.
The weakening of the Brazilian currency "is going to entice the producers (there) to sell more beans," said Terry Reilly, analyst at Futures International.
At 10:50 am CDT (1550 GMT), CBOT May soyabean futures were down 3-1/4 cents at $8.88-3/4 a bushel.
"Dry weather conditions are currently allowing harvesting of the soyabean crop in Brazil - which is expected to be record-high - to make rapid progress," Commerzbank said in a market note.
CBOT May winter wheat was down 4-1/2 cents at $4.72-3/4 a bushel while CBOT May corn was 1 cent lower at $3.67-1/2 a bushel.
Traders also were waiting for fresh guidance from the US Federal Reserve about the likelihood of interest rate increases. The US central bank's latest policy statement will be released at 1 pm CDT along with updated economic projections.
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