Wheat futures top one-week high on improving export demand

CHICAGO: US wheat futures jumped to their highest in more than a week on Friday on hopes for improved export demand after sales to Egypt, while corn and soybean futures slumped.

The sale of 120,000 tonnes of US wheat to Egypt in a tender on Thursday indicated that US wheat has become competitively priced on the global market, after being too expensive, traders said.

Egypt also bought 60,000 tonnes of Russian wheat and 60,000 tonnes of Romanian wheat in the tender, which closed when US markets were shut for the Thanksgiving holiday.

It was the second consecutive tender in which Egypt, the world's top wheat importer, bought US wheat.

Analysts projected that the United States could see export demand continue to improve because of tightening supplies in Russia, the world's top wheat exporter.

"Our wheat prices have become competitive into some markets," said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for US-based broker INTL FCStone.

The most active wheat contract

was up 4-1/4 cents at $5.11 a bushel by 10:40 a.m. CST (1640 GMT) on the Chicago Board of Trade. Earlier, the contract reached $5.16, its highest price since Nov. 13.

Most-active soybeans

slipped 1/2 cent to $8.82-1/2 a bushel, while corn

stumbled 1-3/4 cents to $3.60 bushel.

Pressuring soy prices was uncertainty about the potential for the United States and China to make progress to resolve a trade war at the upcoming G20 leaders' summit in Buenos Aires, traders said.

China is the world's largest soybean importer, and the oilseed is the United States' single largest agricultural export to the Asian country. However, retaliatory Chinese tariffs against US soybeans have stalled trade, threatening to leave a bumper US harvest piled up in storage or rotting in fields.

"With burdensome US soybean stocks, the only real positive hope for the soybean market is that those trade negotiations go well," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier, analyst for Summit Commodity Brokerage in Iowa.

The US Department of Agriculture said exporters struck deals to sell US soybeans to unknown destinations and corn to South Korea.

US soybean export sales of 680,500 tonnes for the week ended Nov. 15 were in line with estimates for 550,000 to 850,000 tonnes. The sales included cancellations of 66,000 tonnes to China and cancellations of 290,200 tonnes to unknown destinations, according to USDA data.