Wheat near 2-week low on Black Sea competition, corn firms

SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat inched up on Thursday, but the market traded close to last session’s two-week low as a tender by top importer Egypt highlighted competition from the Black Sea region, easing concerns about the Russia-Ukraine war reducing supplies.

Soybeans remained under pressure from improved Argentine weather and harvest of a record Brazilian crop, while corn firmed.

“The market, prompted by weakish U.S. export inspections, is again questioning whether U.S. prices are too high,” said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “And the resolution is lower prices until it again finds buyers.”

Global wheat buyers avoiding forward purchases

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.3% at $7.52 a bushel, as of 0324 GMT, after dropping to its lowest since Feb. 7 at $7.46-3/4 a bushel on Wednesday.

Soybeans rose 0.1% to $15.35-3/4 a bushel and corn gained 0.2% to $6.75-1/2 a bushel.

Egypt’s wheat tender served as a reminder of stiff export competition from Black Sea suppliers. The lowest offer in the tender was for Russian wheat, while the only offer of non-Black Sea wheat, for French supplies, was the most expensive, according to traders. No U.S. wheat was offered.

After the CBOT closed on Wednesday, Egypt’s state grains buyer booked 240,000 tonnes of Russian wheat.

Ukraine will ask Turkey and the United Nations this week to start talks to roll over the Black Sea grain deal, seeking an extension of at least one year that would include the ports of Mykolaiv, a senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday.

For soybeans, a few beneficial showers emerged in drought-hit Argentina and harvest of an all-time high Brazilian crop gathered pace, adding to pressure on prices.

Traders are awaiting the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual two-day Outlook Forum starting on Thursday, where the agency is expected to release preliminary forecasts for 2023 plantings and production of major U.S. crops.

Analysts surveyed by Reuters on average projected U.S. corn plantings at 90.9 million acres, up from the 88.6 million acres seeded in 2022, and soybean plantings at 88.6 million acres, up from 87.5 million acres in 2022.

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