CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures were nearly flat on Friday but remained up about 7% for the week on increasing concerns over crop losses in Russia and other exporting countries.
Corn futures were also little changed, while soybeans rose slightly. CBOT wheat this week reached a 10-month high as analysts reduced production estimates for Russia, the biggest wheat exporter, after crop areas suffered from dryness and frosts.
High prices are expected to drive livestock producers globally to use more corn as feed, instead of wheat, analysts said. “The rally in wheat appears to be running out of steam as we think much of the Russian crop production loss could be factored into the market,” said Terry Reilly, senior agricultural strategist for Marex.
“Global wheat demand destruction may keep any rallies in check. The most-active CBOT wheat contract was down 1 cent at $6.97 a bushel by 11:45 a.m. CDT (1645 GMT).
Corn edged up 1/4 cent to $4.64-1/4 a bushel and soybeans traded 8 cents higher at $12.45-1/4 a bushel. For the week, corn has increased about 2.6% while soybeans were up about 1.3%.
The International Grains Council this week cut its forecast for 2024/25 global wheat production. In Europe, the condition of France’s soft wheat declined slightly last week to remain at a four-year low while maize planting slowed, farm office FranceAgriMer said. Germany’s wheat crop will shrink by 5.6% this year to 20.31 million metric tons, according to the country’s association of farm cooperatives.
Traders are also assessing US corn and soybean plantings after earlier rain delays. The US Department of Agriculture is slated to issue a weekly update on planting progress on Tuesday, one day later than normal due to Memorial Day on Monday.
Traders adjusted positions before the three-day weekend. “Without any great weather concerns in the US, it will be hard to rally corn much,” said Tomm Pfitzenmaier, analyst for Summit Commodity Brokerage.
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