GRAINS-Wheat treads water on weak demand, falling Russian prices
CANBERRA, Feb 1 (Reuters) – Chicago wheat futures trod water on Thursday amid weak demand and falling Russian export prices, while soybeans and corn hovered above multi-year lows on the prospect of ample supply.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active what contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 was up 0.1% at $5.95-3/4 a bushel by 0123 GMT after falling 5.2% in January.
* CBOT soybeans Sv1 fell 0.4% to $12.17-1/2 a bushel and were close to Tuesday’s two-year low of $11.88, while corn Cv1 slipped 0.3% to $4.46-3/4 a bushel, and was trading near a three-year low of $4.37 hit twice during January.
* Falling wheat prices in Russia, which still has a large surplus to shift before this summer’s harvest, have kept the wheat market’s focus on Black Sea supplies.
* Russia’s agriculture minister, meanwhile, said the country would increase the area for the 2024 harvest by 300,000 hectares to 84.5 million hectares, bolstering expectations for another bumper crop.
* Euronext wheat futures hit contract lows. CBOT wheat traded at a three-year low of $5.40 in September.
* Data showing a fourth consecutive monthly decline in China’s manufacturing activity did nothing to ease concerns about Chinese demand for agricultural imports. O/R
* The U.S. dollar also strengthened during January, making U.S. farm products less attractive to importers. UDS=FRX/
* Commodity funds – which hold net short positions in CBOT wheat, corn and soybeans – were net sellers of wheat and corn futures on Wednesday while buying soybeans, traders said.
* Argentina’s farm regions are bracing for a heat wave over the next week, followed by rains that will douse the northern, western and southern regions but largely miss the center-east zone, the Buenos Aires grains exchange said.
* India’s major wheat-growing areas in the north could experience above normal temperatures in February, the country’s weather office said, raising concerns about crop yields.
* Ukraine’s agricultural maritime exports are expected to fall to around 3.8 million metric tons in January from around 6.1 million tons in the prior month, brokers said.
* The European Commission proposed measures to limit agricultural imports from Ukraine and offer greater flexibility on rules for fallow land in a bid to quell protests by angry farmers in France and other EU members.
MARKETS NEWS
Treasury yields and a gauge of global equities fell sharply after the U.S. Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged as expected on Wednesday but indicated it would not reduce them until inflation was “moving sustainably” towards its 2% target. MKTS/GLOB
Source Link: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/grains-wheat-treads-water-on-weak-demand-falling-russian-prices
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