Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures fell to a near two-week low on Thursday after the US Department of Agriculture's first official estimate of the 2018-19 US wheat harvest came in above trade expectations. Corn futures followed wheat lower, while soyabeans were higher. At 1:02 p.m. CDT (1802 GMT), CBOT July wheat was down 6 cents at $5.04-1/2 per bushel after dipping to $5.00-1/4, its lowest since April 27.
July corn fell 1-1/4 cents at $4.01-1/2 a bushel and July soyabeans were up 3-1/4 cents at $10.19 a bushel. Wheat declined after the USDA projected the total US wheat crop for the 2018-19 marketing year at 1.821 billion bushels, above the average analyst estimate for 1.777 billion and up 5 percent from the prior year. Winter wheat grown in the southern US Plains has struggled with months of drought, but the USDA said combined production of spring and durum wheat would increase 34 percent from the previous year.
Some analysts predicted USDA eventually would lower its winter wheat production estimate, noting the crop's immaturity. The USDA forecast that world wheat stocks would total 264.33 million tonnes by the end of the 2018-19 marketing year, down about 2 percent from its 2017-18 forecast of 270.46 million, an all-time high. CBOT wheat was also pressured by a smaller-than-expected weekly US wheat export sales tally.
Soyabean futures rose after the USDA, in its first official supply/demand forecasts for the new crop year, projected 2018-19 soyabean ending stocks at 415 million bushels, below most trade expectations. Corn futures eased in sympathy with wheat. However, futures drew underlying support from USDA's forecast that global corn ending stocks would fall to 159.15 million tonnes by the end of 2018-19, from 194.85 million in 2017-18 and below a range of trade expectations.
Comments
Comments are closed.