Wheat eases for second day, near 3-week low on ample world supplies

• Soybeans held steady as the market awaited developments around any trade deal between Washington and Beijing.
• Soybeans were 0.4pc lower at $8.90 a bushel, having closed down 0.9pc on Wednesday.
• Corn edged up 0.3pc to $3.72-1/4 a bushel, having dropped 1.5pc in the previous session.

Soybeans held steady as the market awaited developments around any trade deal between Washington and Beijing.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade slid 0.4pc to $5.17-1/4 a bushel by 1146 GMT, having closed down 0.9pc on Wednesday when prices hit a Nov. 22 low of $5.16-3/4 a bushel.

Soybeans were 0.4pc lower at $8.90 a bushel, having closed down 0.9pc on Wednesday.

Corn edged up 0.3pc to $3.72-1/4 a bushel, having dropped 1.5pc in the previous session.

"Wheat prices have declined as there is no shortage in supplies," said one Singapore-based grains trader. "The market is looking at the Syrian tender for price direction."

A Syrian state grains agency has issued an international tender to purchase 200,000 tonnes of soft wheat for bread making sourced from Russia.

There was no US wheat offered in a snap tender by Egypt's state grain buyer, which ultimately bought 355,000 tonnes of Russian, Romanian, Ukrainian and French wheat.

French consultancy Strategie Grains said on Thursday it was bullish on wheat at both global and European levels in the long run due mainly to good export demand, notably from Iran.

"The situation on the maize and barley markets - the latter very heavy in the EU - is keeping wheat price movements in relative check for the moment, but going forward we do not think its strength of influence will be sufficient to stop wheat prices rising further," it said in a monthly report.

"At the present time, this bullish element is reinforced by the ongoing planting delays and the outlook for a smaller European wheat harvest in 2020," it said.

In its first estimate for next year's harvest, Strategie Grains on Thursday forecast the EU soft wheat at 140.5 million tonnes, down 3.6pc from an expected 145.8 million tonnes in 2019, mainly because of a 2.5pc fall in the area sown.

US President Donald Trump is expected to meet with top trade advisers on Thursday to discuss planned Dec. 15 tariffs on $160 billion in Chinese goods, three sources familiar with the plans said, as markets braced for potential negative impacts.

"This threat has been hanging over the market like the sword of Damocles for months. Even if this does not happen, Chinese demand for US soybeans in the current season is likely to run out of steam," Commerzbank said in a note.

The spread of African swine fever across China is likely to limit demand for soybeans which are mainly used to feed pigs.

China's agriculture ministry said on Wednesday the swine fever had been detected in three dead wild boars in northwestern Shaanxi province, in a recent outbreak of the disease which has resulted in the culling of millions of pigs.