CANBERRA: Chicago wheat, corn and soybean futures steadied on Monday after disappointing US export data pushed prices of all three contracts lower at the end of last week.
Fundamentals
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The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.1% at $4.42-1/4 a bushel by 0131 GMT, with CBOT soybeans were up 0.1% at $9.89-1/2 a bushel and wheat traded 0.1% higher to $5.52-3/4 a bushel.
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After multiple weeks of impressive volumes, US corn and soybean export sales last week were a disappointment.
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Growing uncertainty over China’s import needs going into next year also weighed on grain and oilseed markets, with China’s statistics bureau saying on Friday that total grain production reached a record of more than 700 million tons in 2024.
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CBOT corn rose last week to its highest level since June after the US Department of Agriculture cut its estimate for US end-of-season stocks. Higher corn prices helped lift wheat, since both grains are used as animal feed.
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But profit-taking kicked in by the end of the week, with speculators selling CBOT corn, wheat and soy on Friday, traders said.
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Despite the USDA cut to US ending stocks, analysts at JPMorgan said their global outlook balances for 2025/26 showed critical lows in world Ex-China wheat and corn inventories, limiting price downside.
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However, they said in a research note, “US grain, soybean and cotton availability remains comfortable, likely containing the extent of price recovery in the absence of a major improvement in domestic or export demand.”
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Ukraine’s grain harvest could total around 55 million metric tons in 2024, against the previous estimate of 54 million tons, Ukrainian agriculture minister Vitaliy Koval said on Friday.
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Russia’s seaborne grain exports rose 39.5% year-on-year in November to 4.8 million metric tons, shipping data from industry sources showed.
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