CBOT wheat turns higher after setting three-week low

CHICAGO: Chicago wheat futures rebounded on Friday after touching a three-week low as the US government's forecast for a record world wheat stock added supply pressure.

Chicago soybeans edged higher after a run of US exports to top importer China supported prices. Corn was little changed as traders weighed the US Department of Agriculture's June supply-demand report that increased projected US corn inventories but cut demand for corn to make ethanol by less than analysts anticipated.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade added 3 cents to $5.02-1/4 cents a bushel as of 11:15 a.m. CDT (1615 GMT), after hitting a session low of $4.95-1/4, its weakest since May 18. CBOT soybeans were up 1 cent at $8.67 a bushel, while July corn gained 3/4 cents at $3.30-1/2 a bushel.

Wheat strengthened on weather forecasts showing hot, dry weather across the US Great Plains, but was limited by the USDA's estimates on Thursday for world inventories to reach a record 316 million tonnes for 2020/21.

"A very dry weather pattern is expected across most of the US over the next week," said Kyle Tapley, senior agriculture meteorologist at space technology company Maxar in a daily weather note. Rising temperatures "will accelerate drying of soils and likely lead to some stress on corn and soybeans," he said.

Corn held steady as traders eyed the weather forecasts for potential stress on replanted acres.

"There's a lot of late corn out there that needs good weather, and I think the market's sensitive to that right now," said Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics.

Soybean traders positioned heading into the weekend, after a week of renewed export sales to China.

"Oftentimes the weekends are when the US-China rhetoric ramps up," said Zuzolo. "Going into a weekend, longs probably wanted to take some profit off the table."