US wheat rebounded on Friday off a six-month low hit a day earlier, as US government data showed the biggest weekly export sales in nearly two years. Soyabeans pared gains and corn eased after the US Department of Agriculture's weekly export data revealed sales below trade expectations.
US wheat exports totalled more than 1 million tonnes, the highest level since January 2011, and easily exceeded a range of trade estimates between 500,000 and 700,000 tonnes. The robust wheat sales are due to US supplies being priced at a discount to competitors' wheat after values dropped steadily this month, said Terry Reilly, senior commodity analyst at Futures International in Chicago.
"This is the beginning. The US is a pretty good shop for global importers to look to," he said. "Ukraine and Russian wheat exports have considerably slowed during December but more importantly US prices are now fairly competitive." Chicago Board of Trade March wheat rose 5-1/4 cents or 0.7 percent to $7.77-1/2 a bushel by 8:38 a.m. CST (1438 GMT), off a six-month low of $7.64-1/2 hit on Thursday.
March wheat is on track for a drop of nearly 2 percent this week. This would bring its slide for the month to about 8 percent - the biggest decline in more than a year for the contract. The strong export sales will help wheat prices rebound somewhat for the end of the year, said Ken Ball, a commodities broker at PI Financial Corp in Winnipeg.
US export sales were disappointing for corn and soyabeans. Net soyabean sales amounted to 87,000 tonnes, below a range of trade expectations from 100,000 to 300,000 tonnes. That miss was tempered by the USDA separately reporting a sale of 165,000 tonnes of US soyabeans to China. Net corn sales totalled 104,300 tonnes, down from a trade estimate range of 150,000 to 300,000 tonnes. January soyabeans were up 1/2 cent at $14.19 per bushel, while March corn slipped 1/2 cent to $6.91 a bushel. Soyabeans and corn are down 0.8 and 1.6 percent respectively for the week.
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