Russian supply glut pushes wheat to weekly loss despite Friday bounce-back
Chicago wheat futures rose on Friday following the International Grains Council’s (IGC) reduction of global production forecasts by one million tons. Despite this, wheat faced a 4% weekly loss due to abundant Black Sea supplies. Corn and soybean futures saw slight gains but remained under pressure from the U.S. harvest, with corn set for a 1.5% weekly loss.
CANBERRA, Sept 20 (Reuters) -Chicago wheat futures rose on Friday after the International Grains Council (IGC) cut its global production forecast by a million tons, but prices were still headed for a 4% weekly loss due to ample supply of cheap wheat from the Black Sea.
Corn and soybean futures rose slightly despite pressure from the ongoing U.S. harvest. Corn was on track for a 1.5% weekly loss and soy for a 0.8% gain from last Friday’s close.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 was up 0.9% at $5.70-3/4 a bushel by 0119 GMT, while CBOT corn Cv1 rose 0.3% to $4.07 a bushel and soybeans Sv1 climbed 0.2% to $10.15-1/4 a bushel.
* All three contracts fell to four-year lows in July or August due to plentiful supply but have regained some ground, helped in part by a weaker dollar making U.S. crops more competitive on global markets. FRX/ USD=
* Wheat slumped this week after crop losses in Europe, dry conditions in parts of Russia and Ukraine and a missile attack on a grain vessel in the Black Sea pushed prices to $5.99 last Friday, the highest since June 19.
* But Russian wheat prices did not follow the CBOT higher and the country, by far the world’s biggest exporter, continues to ship huge quantities, out-competing U.S. grain.
* U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) data on Thursday showed that weekly U.S. export sales were below analysts’ expectations. EXP/WHE
* Negative supply news supported prices on Friday, however, with the IGC trimming its forecast for 2024/25 global wheat output to 798 million metric tons, Argentine farmers abandoning some wheat fields due to lack of rainfall and heavy rains killing winter crops in parts of Siberia during sprouting time.
* In other crops, the IGC lowered its 2024/25 world corn crop outlook by 2 million tons to 1.224 billion tons and kept its forecast for global soybean output in 2024/25 at 419 million tons.
* The USDA reported U.S. soybean export sales above trade expectations. U.S. soy exports have picked up after one of the worst seasons in recent memory but are still disconcertingly low. EXP/SOY
* Commodity funds have cut their net short positions in CBOT wheat, corn and soybeans but remain bearish. They were net sellers of all three on Thursday, traders said.
MARKETS NEWS
* Major Wall Street indexes broke record highs after global counterparts booked gains and Treasury yields rose on Thursday as the start of the Federal Reserve’s first rate-cutting cycle in more than four years whet investors’ risk appetite.
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