PARIS/KUALA LUMPUR: Chicago corn futures fell on Monday, retreating from a more than three-week high in the previous session, though strong Chinese demand lent some support while wheat pared gains as uncertainty over Black Sea exports continues.
Soybeans edged higher, supported by stronger crude and vegetable oils prices.
The most active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) slipped 0.5% to $6.39-1/2 a bushel by 1110 GMT, wheat fell 0.7% to $6.83-3/4 a bushel and soybeans rose 0.2% to $14.31-1/4 a bushel.
Corn slips from three-week high, but China demand limits fall
“After the last two weeks’ correction, there is limited scope for further downside in grains. The market will stabilise at around current levels as funds have started adding new long positions,” one Mumbai-based trader said.
Falling prices have sparked a flurry of Chinese purchases of US corn as the world’s top buyer of the grain scrambles to make up for a slow start to its import programme, traders and analysts said.
A US planting intentions survey conducted by Farm Futures magazine indicated that growers expect to plant 87.677 million acres of corn in 2023, down 1% from 88.579 million acres last year. Soybean plantings for 2023 are forecast at 89.620 million acres, up 2.5% from the USDA’s 2022 estimate.
Traders are also assessing uncertainties over the Black Sea grains deal after Russian business newspaper Vedomosti on Friday reported that Moscow could recommend a temporary halt in wheat and sunflower exports.
Sources later told Reuters that Russia had no plans to halt wheat exports but wanted exporters to ensure prices paid to farmers were high enough to cover average production costs.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had held a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan, the Kremlin said on Saturday.
Erdogan thanked Putin for his “positive attitude” in extending the Black Sea grain deal and expressed his understanding of the Russian side’s desire for removal of barriers for its agricultural products, the Kremlin said in a statement.
Comments
Comments are closed.