SINGAPORE/PARIS: Chicago grain futures were all trading in negative territory on Thursday, with soybean futures hitting a one-week low as rapid US planting progress pressured prices.
Wheat slid for a fourth session in a row on good weather for crop development in parts of the US Midwest.
“US weather is favourable for soybeans,” one Singapore-based trader said. “It is bit early to predict as US farmers are just planting beans, but a bumper US crop this year will add to ample supplies from a record Brazilian harvest.”
Soybeans face pressure on US planting weather, tepid China demand
The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 0.5% to $13.97 a bushel by 1130 GMT after touching its lowest since May 3 at $13.95.
Wheat dropped 0.8% to $6.36-1/4 a bushel and corn lost 0.4% to $5.91-1/2 a bushel.
The fast pace of US planting and forecasts of favourable growing weather are weighing on soybean prices.
However, Argentina’s Rosario Grains exchange cut its forecast for the 2022/2023 soybean harvest by 6.5% to 21.5 million tonnes, it said on Wednesday, as the effects of adverse weather hit the country’s top crop.
On the demand front, an official with China’s state grain reserve bureau said that China, the world’s top soybean buyer, would stabilise and diversify its soybean imports as the country continues to promote higher domestic production of the crop.
In the wheat market, talks over the Black Sea export deal remain centre stage.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu on Wednesday said he thought the deal could be extended for at least two more months, as officials from the parties involved held the first day of talks on an extension.
Russia has said it would not extend the pact beyond May 18 unless a list of demands is met to remove obstacles to its own grain and fertiliser exports. Cavusoglu was speaking to reporters on his return from a trip to Moscow.
Export prices for Russian wheat weakened amid continued high export volumes, uncertainty surrounding the Black Sea grain deal and in anticipation of a new crop, analysts said on Wednesday.
In Europe, consultancy Strategie Grains raised its forecast for 2023/24 EU soft wheat production on favourable conditions in most of the bloc but reduced its outlook for barley and maize crops, partly because of drought in Spain.
Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT soybean, wheat and soyoil futures contracts on Wednesday, traders said. The funds were net buyers of CBOT corn and soymeal futures.
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