Markets

Soybeans rebound on Brazilian crop woes, wheat up for third session

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Wheat rose for a third consecutive session as the market underpinned expectations of strong demand for U.S. supplies.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade was up 0.3 percent at $9.08 a bushel, as of 0349 GMT. In the previous session, it lost 1 percent when prices hit $9.03-1/2 a bushel, their lowest since Jan. 22.

Wheat climbed 0.1 percent to $5.19 a bushel, having closed 0.2 percent higher on Monday, while corn gained 0.4 percent to $3.74-1/4 a bushel, after closing 0.4 percent lower in the previous session.

"For soybeans the main worry is about the Brazilian crop as it is too early to talk about U.S. planting," said a Singapore-based trader. "U.S. wheat exports are picking up and we see strong demand for U.S. wheat until June."

Brazil's 2018/19 soybean crop estimate was cut by almost 4.5 million tonnes, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, as it cited unfavourable climate conditions in key producing states.

AgRural now predicts Brazil's output at 112.5 million tonnes this season, down from a forecast 116.9 million tonnes last month, due to hot and dry conditions in soybean fields.

Negotiators from the United States and China, the world's top soybean buyer, are trying to hammer out a trade deal before a March 1 deadline, when U.S. tariffs on $200 billion worth of

Chinese imports are scheduled to increase to 25 percent from 10 percent. Last week, the USDA lowered estimates of U.S. 2018 corn yield and production, but raised forecasts of 2018-19 U.S. and global corn ending stocks more than most analysts had expected.

The agency also raised its estimate of Argentina's corn harvest to 46 million tonnes, from 42.5 million tonnes previously.

Chicago wheat futures are finding support in higher demand for U.S. wheat as supplies tighten in the Black Sea region and Australia suffers from a second year of drought.

Copyright Reuters, 2019