US corn and soyabean futures were higher on Wednesday on light technical buying as a blizzard bore down on portions of the Plains and Midwest, threatening to delay plantings, analysts said. Wheat futures declined and were on pace for a fifth straight lower close as traders fixated on plentiful world supplies. As of 12:55 p.m. CDT (1755 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade May corn was up 1-3/4 cents at $3.61-3/4 per bushel and May soyabeans were up 3-1/2 cents at $9.02-1/4 a bushel. CBOT May wheat was down 1/4 cent at $4.59-1/4 a bushel.
Traders were monitoring the progress of a winter storm that was forecast to dump as much as 30 inches of wet, heavy snow on western Minnesota and southeast South Dakota, the National Weather Service said.
Support for prices also stemmed from talks with China about reducing Beijing's tariff on US ethanol products. US Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said on Tuesday that talks with China were "positive," but cautioned the discussions were not over.
China's Ministry of Commerce is set to review its anti-dumping tariffs on imports from the United States of distillers grains (DDGS), an animal feed ingredient that is a byproduct of ethanol plants, according to a document issued by the China Alcoholic Drinks Association.
The US Department of Agriculture this week raised its forecasts of 2018/19 global corn and wheat ending stocks more than most analysts expected.
CBOT May corn fell to a contract low on Tuesday, but commodity funds already hold a massive net short position in corn futures, a factor that may limit further declines.
In Europe, farming agency FranceAgriMer raised its forecast for French soft wheat exports outside the European Union this season for the third month in a row, underlining a recent acceleration in shipments from the EU's biggest grain grower. FranceAgriMer now expects non-EU soft wheat exports in the 2018/19 season at 9.7 million tonnes, up from the 9.5 million forecast last month and 19.5 percent above last season's volume.
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