Wheat extends slide to 6-week low on fund selling, slow exports

PARIS/SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat futures fell for a fourth straight session on Friday to hit a six-week low on Friday, sapped by investor selling and weak demand for US supplies.

Soybeans edged lower and were poised for a third weekly loss in a row as trade tensions between the United States, the world second-largest exporter of the oilseed, and China, the biggest importer, weighed on prices.

The prospect of bumper yields in the upcoming US harvest also continued to drag on prices of both soybeans and corn, which also ticked down.

The most-active wheat futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade were down 0.8 percent at $5.09-1/2 a bushel by 1044 GMT, their lowest since July 25.

In Europe, benchmark December milling wheat on Euronext also struck a six-week low at 196.25 euros ($228.20) a tonne after breaching chart support at 198 euros.

"Wheat prices are once again loosing ground while funds are unusually long on this product," consultancy Agritel said in a note. "Furthermore, US exports remain weak, challenged by Black sea origins during the beginning of the campaign."

US market remains under pressure from slow demand despite lower output in the Black Sea region.

Analysts expect a US Department of Agriculture report on Friday to show weekly wheat export sales of between 200,000 and 500,000 tonnes.

Russia's agriculture ministry said on Thursday it had no plans to tax wheat exports, as speculation persists that the country, one of the world's largest wheat exporters, might move to limit shipments later in the season because of a smaller crop.

CBOT soybeans were down 0.3 percent at $8.37 a bushel while corn was 0.7 percent lower at $3.63-3/4.

Friday saw the public comment period for proposed US tariffs on an additional $200 billion worth of Chinese imports expire at 0400 GMT. The tariffs could now go into effect at any moment, although there was no clear timetable.

An outbreak of African swine fever in China was also dampening market sentiment as it could curb demand for soymeal feed from the country's massive pig industry.

Private analytics firm Informa Economics revised upwards its forecast for the 2018 US corn yield to 178.8 bushels per acre (bpa) from 176.0 bpa, and raised its US soybean yield forecast to 52.9 bpa from 50.0 bpa, trade sources said on Thursday.

Market attention is turning towards a monthly US government crop report next Wednesday that will update official corn and soybean harvest forecasts.