SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat slid for a third session on Monday, pressured by freshly harvested crops in the southern hemisphere, although the downside was limited by export restrictions from Russia.
Soybeans fell on expectations of record Brazilian output, while corn eased to shed some of previous session’s gains.
“There is no shortage of wheat as of now, so the market is under pressure,” said one Singapore-based grains trader.
“But supplies are likely to get tight next year.”
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.6% at $5.44-1/2 a bushel, as of 0405 GMT.
Soybeans lost 0.3% to $9.86-1/2 a bushel and corn gave up 0.5% to $4.30-3/4 a bushel. Wheat exporters in the southern hemisphere, Australia and Argentina are expected harvest large crops this season.
However, Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, cut its 2025 export quota by two-thirds, hiked wheat-export duties and abandoned import quotas for some staple foods on Friday as the government moved to curb inflation.
The country’s export quotas for the second part of the export season from Feb. 15 to June 30, 2025, will be 11 million metric tons, down from 29 million tons in the same period this year.
Soft wheat sowing in France has surpassed the average pace of recent years, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday, as drier weather this month helped farmers catch up on rain delays earlier in the autumn.
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Soybean prices are under pressure due to early forecasts of an all-time high crop in Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of the oilseed.
Brazil’s 2024/2025 soybean crop was seen at a record 172.2 million tons, consultancy firm Agroconsult said on Thursday, surpassing the current historic high of 162.4 million tons set in 2022/23.
The output would also be up 10.7% from the previous cycle, when yields were hit by an adverse weather.
The US Department of Agriculture reported weekly 2024-25 US wheat and corn export sales that were in line with trade expectations.
But weekly US soybean export sales were above trade estimates, USDA data showed, with strong demand for US soyoil, soymeal and soybeans. Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn and soyoil futures contracts on Friday, traders said.
Funds were net sellers of soybean, wheat and soymeal futures contracts.
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