CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures fell for the third day in a row to their lowest in more than seven weeks on Wednesday on expectations that US supplies will continue to struggle to gain traction on the global export market, traders said.
Corn futures were close to unchanged, with pressure from the wheat market and expectations for a massive US crop counteracting any strength from bargain buying and short-covering.
Soybeans edged higher, but concerns about the ongoing trade fight with China kept a lid on a rally.
Wheat declined the most, with the benchmark CBOT December soft red winter wheat contract down 6-1/4 cents at $5.15-1/2 a bushel.
"It is the idea of still having too much wheat around," said Steve George, president of brokerage Allendale. "Exports have not picked up. You are not looking for big sales there. You do have some chatter out there."
"Black Sea exporters are still actively selling wheat in Asia and other regions, so there is less demand for US wheat," said one Singapore-based trader at an international trading company
Russia's agriculture ministry repeated on Thursday it had no plans to impose a tax on wheat exports, as speculation remains that the country, one of the world's largest wheat exporters, might move to limit wheat exports later in the season because of a smaller crop. [nL8N1VP3BM
CBOT November soybean futures were up 2-1/2 cents at $8.40-1/2 a bushel.
The soybean market is struggling against the backdrop of a trade war between the United States and top importer China that includes a 25 percent Chinese tariff imposed on US soybeans.
US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the United States was not yet ready to come to an agreement over trade disputes with China but added talks would continue.
The world's two largest economies have slapped tariffs on $50 billion of each other's goods in a tit-for-tat trade war, and Trump is considering imposing tariffs on another $200 billion in Chinese imports.
Grain traders also were awaiting the results of ongoing US-Canada trade talks.
CBOT December corn was up 1/4 cent at $3.65-1/2 a bushel.
Closely watched private analytics firm Informa Economics on Thursday raised its 2018 US corn yield forecast to 178.8 bushels per acre from its previous estimate of 176.0 bushels per acre. It also boosted its soy yield outlook by 2.9 bushels to 52.9 bushels per acre.
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