GRAINS-Wheat holds firm near 4-month top, soybeans and corn regain ground
Updates at 1315 GMT, changes dateline
PARIS/CANBERRA, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Chicago wheat futures held steady on Thursday near a four-month high, underpinned by a flurry of U.S. export sales to China.
Soybeans rebounded from a 1-1/2 month low while corn also turned higher as crude oil prices steadied and reduced official forecasts of Brazil’s next harvests put attention back on mixed crop weather. O/R
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 was up 1% at $6.40 a bushel by 1315 GMT after reaching $6.49-1/2 on Wednesday, its highest since Aug. 9.
Wednesday’s U.S. government confirmation of private sales of 372,000 metric tons of soft red winter wheat to China took total U.S. sales this week to China to more than 1 million tons, the biggest one-week total to China since July 2014.
The Chinese purchases triggered a flurry of short-covering by investors who had bet heavily on price falls.
The market is now watching to see if the run-up in U.S. prices will curb demand, with other exporters like Russia having supplies to ship, as shown by Egyptian import tenders this week. GRA/TEND
“Ten days ago, U.S. wheat was the most competitive in the world. It’s now well above EU and Black Sea prices,” Ole Houe, director of advisory services at Australian agricultural brokerage IKON Commodities, said.
CBOT soybeans Sv1 were up 0.9% at $13.07-1/2 a bushel, while corn Cv1 added 0.8% to $4.88-1/4 a bushel.
Brazilian crop agency Conab on Thursday cut its forecast for the country’s 2023/24 soybean production but still predicts a record crop.
The agency also trimmed its outlook for 2023/24 corn output, confirming its expectation for a sharp fall from 2022/23.
Showers in parched parts of Brazil have pressured soybean prices this week, but concerns remain about an unfavourable start to the growing season.
Traders are also awaiting the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly supply/demand reports due Friday.
Analysts surveyed by Reuters expect the USDA to lower its estimates of Brazil’s 2023/24 soybean and corn crops.
Source Link :- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/grains-wheat-holds-firm-near-4-month-top-soybeans-and-corn-regain-ground
