PARIS/CANBERRA: Chicago soyabean futures were little changed on Monday, consolidating after a three-day rise as the market assessed Chinese demand and Midwest weather ahead of US government crop data this week. Corn and wheat eased as strength in the dollar and a slide in crude oil curbed US grain prices, countering recent concerns about global harvest prospects.
The most active soyabean futures on the Chicago Board Of Trade were down a quarter of a cent at $13.36-1/2 a bushel by 1143 GMT.
“Global demand, particularly from China, is the primary driver of prices,” said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist, National Australia Bank. The market has been waiting for an upturn in Chinese purchases of US beans as supplies from Brazil’s delayed harvest start to wane. Exporters on Friday reported a sale of 131,000 tonnes of soyabeans to China, marking the second consecutive daily soyabean sales notice. However, Beijing’s soyabean imports fell in July from the same period the previous year, customs data showed on Saturday, as poor crushing margins weighed on demand.
The rise in the dollar following stronger than anticipated July US jobs data on Friday was also tempering export sentiment.
A steep fall in crude oil on Monday, linked to the firm dollar and worries over a latest wave of coronavirus infections, partly capped soyabeans and corn, which are used for biofuel.
CBOT corn was down 0.4% at $5.54-1/4 a bushel.
Traders were also assessing the potential impact on US corn and soyabean crops from weekend rain in part of the US Midwest and showers forecast in the week ahead.
Grain markets are turning their attention towards the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) world supply and demand forecasts on Thursday. “Market participants will be looking closely at the USDA’s yield estimates for the US and setting them against the August weather,” a European trader said. CBOT wheat was down 0.4% at $7.16-1/2 a bushel.
US and European wheat futures rallied last week to three-month highs as drought stress to North American spring wheat, falling expectations for Russia’s harvest and rain disruption in western Europe caused concern about global export supplies.
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