Wheat near 4-wk low on ample supplies, crop-friendly US weather

SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat was little changed on Tuesday, a day after suffering its biggest one-day loss in more than a month, with a lack of demand for US shipments in an amply supplied world market dragging on prices.

Soybean prices edged up after closing marginally lower on Monday, while corn was largely unchanged.

The Chicago Board of Trade most-active wheat contract was steady at $4.36 a bushel by 0323 GMT, after hitting its lowest since Sept. 12 at $4.35-1/2 a bushel on Monday.

Soybeans added 0.3 percent to $9.69-3/4 a bushel and corn was unchanged at $4.36 a bushel.

"Globally there is lots of wheat, the US has to compete with lower prices," said one Australia-based commodities analyst. "US wheat prices rose in September and the market is giving up those gains."

The US wheat market is facing pressure from poor demand for US suppliers amid stiff competition from the Black Sea region.

Wheat prices in Russia, which has been dominating the global export market with a record crop, rose last week amid strong demand from buyers including Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

Black Sea prices for Russian wheat with 12.5-percent protein content and October delivery were at $193 a tonne on a free-on-board basis at the end of last week, up $2 from a week earlier.

The market is focusing on the world No.1 wheat importer Egypt, which set a tender on Monday to buy an unspecified amount of wheat from global suppliers for shipment from Nov. 20-30.

There was additional pressure on the wheat market stemming from improving soil moisture in US winter wheat regions, where planting is under way. Rains crossed the southern US Plains last week and showers were forecast in the Midwest this week.

Those storms should slow the harvest of fall crops, a factor that has been underpinning soybean and corn prices. The USDA is scheduled to release its weekly crop progress report on Tuesday, a day later than usual due to a holiday on Monday.

The absence of regular rains in the Midwest and Southeast of Brazil will hamper soybean planting this week but moisture will return to states like Mato Grosso over the coming days, according to a forecast by Rural Clima on Monday.

Investors are reluctant to take on big new positions ahead of the USDA's monthly supply-demand reports on Thursday. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expect the government to raise its estimates of US corn and soybean yield and production in those reports.

Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT soybean, wheat, corn and soymeal futures contracts on Monday and net buyers of soyoil.