US wheat eases, Paris futures stay firm as world crop assessed

PARIS/SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat eased back on Wednesday, while Paris futures struck new contract highs, as the market awaited a US government world crop report for a gauge of rain-hit harvesting in western Europe and reduced expectations of Russian supply.

US soybeans rose for a second session on signs of accelerating export demand and spillover support from a jump in Malaysian palm oil futures, another key global oilseed market.

Chicago corn recovered from a day-earlier fall as investors adjusted positions before Thursday's US Department of Agriculture world crop outlook.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.7% at $7.22-1/4 a bushel by 1134 GMT, giving up some of its 2.2% gain from Tuesday.

On Paris-based Euronext, benchmark December wheat edged up 0.5% to 239.00 euros ($279.94) a tonne, after earlier setting a life of contract peak at 240.25 euros.

Wheat set for second weekly gain on global supply concerns

A rally in the dollar to a four-month high against the euro has capped gains in Chicago while lending extra support to Paris prices.

"The market is continuing to adjust to substantially lower Russian wheat crop estimates," said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Lower yields in Russia's winter wheat crop, drought damage to North American spring wheat and heavy rain during the European Union harvest have raised uncertainty about availability of export supplies.

In France, the EU's top wheat producer, traders are watching to see if a dry spell this week will let farmers finish wheat harvesting and give a clearer picture of grain quality after some poor early results.

CBOT soybeans were up 1.2% at $13.53 a bushel and corn gained 1.0% to $5.58-3/4 a bushel.

The USDA confirmed private sales of 132,000 tonnes of US soybeans to China and another 130,000 tonnes to unknown destinations, the latest in a flurry of overseas sales.

Wheat import exempted from PPRA rules

Corn has been curbed by an improved rating of US crops published by the USDA earlier this week, although there were expectations the agency would cut its US yield forecast in Thursday's report.

Dwindling prospects for Brazil's second corn crop after drought and frost were helping underpin prices.