US wheat futures fell 2.1 percent on Wednesday, retreating from near six-month highs on a round of profit taking and ideas that the rally had made US supplies uncompetitive on the global market, traders said. Corn and soyabeans eased too, weighed down by ample supplies and good growing weather in key South American production countries.
Wheat was on track for its worst daily decline in two weeks. "We are way out of the market," said Shawn McCambridge, senior grains analyst for Jefferies Bache. "Prospects are pretty slim for securing additional market share overseas." Egypt, the world's largest buyer of wheat, on Tuesday announced that it had bought 175,000 tonnes of wheat from Romania and Ukraine. US supplies offered in the tender were priced more than $25 per tonne above the wheat that Egypt purchased.
Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat for March delivery was down 12-1/12 cents at $5.90-3/4 a bushel. K.C. hard red winter wheat for March delivery lost 12-1/4 cents at $6.40 a bushel. Hard red winter wheat, which traders said faced additional pressure from heavy deliveries against the expiring December contract and improving conditions in the US Plains, has shed 4.2 percent during the past two days.
CBOT January soyabeans were 4 cents lower at $9.91-3/4 a bushel and hit their lowest since October 27. CBOT March corn dropped 1-1/2 cents to $3.79-3/4 a bushel, finding support at its 40-day moving average. "It continues to prove difficult to find any bullish fundamentals for the corn market after the US harvest proved ample," Macquarie analysts said in a note. Bearish expectations for crop production in Brazil and Argentina also loomed over the market. Further moisture is expected in the coming days.