CBOT wheat futures ease as efforts to maintain Ukraine exports continue
CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures fell to their lowest price in more than three months on Friday, while soybean futures dropped to a two-week low.
Trading was choppy and subdued before the US issues a monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report on Sept. 12, analysts said.
“It’s just simple consolidation, basically ahead of next Tuesday’s WASDE report,” said Karl Setzer, brokerage research lead for Mid-Co Commodities.
“When we have these early-week WASDE reports, you tend to see - the Thursday, Friday beforehand - the consolidation and shoring up of positions.” Most-active wheat was down 4-1/4 cents at $5.95-1/2 a bushel by 10:50 a.m. CDT (1550 GMT). The contract earlier fell to $5.90-1/2, its lowest price since May 31.
Poor overseas demand for US supplies hung over the market, analysts said. Traders also assessed ongoing efforts to preserve exports from war-torn Ukraine. In CBOT soybeans, futures were down 1/2-cent at $13.59 a bushel, after touching their lowest level since Aug. 23 at $13.52-1/2 a bushel. Corn slipped 3-1/2 cents to $4.82-3/4 a bushel.
Soy futures were constrained by expectations for large supplies from South America and as traders awaited a clearer picture of the upcoming US harvest, analysts said.
The Buenos Aires grains exchange on Thursday forecast Argentina’s 2023/2024 soybean crop at 50 million metric tons, more than double last year’s level. “The pressure (on CBOT prices) was partly due to improved US weather forecasts and optimistic crop forecasts in South America,” brokerage Copenhagen Merchants said in a note. China has recently bought Brazil soybeans for October and November delivery, brokers said, pressuring the US market.
Still, the US Department of Agriculture on Friday said exporters sold 121,000 metric tons of US soybeans to China. Weekly US soybean export sales for 2023-24 were 1.78 million metric tons in the week ended on Aug. 31, within estimates for 1.4 million to 2 million metric tons.
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