Chicago wheat futures fall on U.S. export concerns
Category: Grains
(Reuters) – Chicago wheat futures were lower on Thursday weighed down by concerns that U.S. supplies are seen as too expensive by major buyers such as top importer Egypt.
U.S. corn futures were barely changed while soybeans edged higher, recouping some of the prior session’s losses.
Chicago Board of Trade March wheat futures were off 0.6 percent at $5.24-3/4 a bushel by 1115 GMT after falling by more than one percent on Wednesday.
Egypt’s Trade Ministry said on Thursday it had extended for six months a decision to allow imported wheat to have moisture levels of up to 13.5 percent.
The move is expected to boost the outlook for French exports and comes a day after Egypt cancelled a tender to buy U.S. wheat saying offered prices were exaggerated.
“There are thus growing fears on the market that U.S. wheat is not competitive because of its high price, meaning that the price must fall,” Commerzbank said in a market note.
March milling wheat in Paris rose 0.1 percent to 186.00 euros a tonne.
“The EU is having a good export season at the expense of the United States, Russia and Ukraine and the end is not in sight,” one German trader said.
“For Germany, we have not seen a lot of new business this week but there is a very large export programme for both wheat and barley in German ports in February and in March in which previous sales are being processed.”
Overall global wheat supplies are also ample.
“It is a bumper season and the market is again reflecting a supply picture, you can get your wheat anywhere right now,” said Phin Ziebell, an agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank.
CBOT March soybeans rose 0.25 percent to $9.98-1/4 a bushel, recovering some ground after falling 1.2 percent on Wednesday.
South America is in the early phases of record-large soybean harvests while there are still are plentiful supplies of both soybeans and corn after record U.S. harvests last autumn.
“South America origins should increase the competition in soybeans with the beginning of the harvest,” analysts Agritel said in a market note.
CBOT March corn was unchanged at $3.83-3/4 a bushel.
