(Reuters) – Chicago wheat and corn futures were little changed on Friday while soybeans edged higher as this week’s downtrend in all three markets abated at least temporarily.
Dealers said, however, that forecasts of dry weather across the U.S. grain belt continued to weigh on sentiment as drier conditions would help accelerate the winter wheat harvest, soybean plantings as well as the emergence of corn crops.
The Chicago Board of Trade most-active wheat contract was unchanged at $4.29 a bushel at 1122 GMT. The contract was on track for a weekly loss of about 2.1 percent.
“Kansas had faced very heavy rains but now June weather looks dry and that should be helpful for the wheat harvest,” said one agriculture commodities analyst.
December milling wheat in Paris was up 0.4 percent at 171.00 euros a tonne.
The condition of French cereal crops worsened only slightly in the week to May 29, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed on Friday, suggesting a limited impact from a heatwave last month in the EU’s biggest grain producer.
The CBOT’s most active soybean contract was up 0.2 percent at $9.14-1/4 a bushel but still on track for a weekly loss of about 1.3 percent.
Dealers said drier weather would encourage U.S. soybean plantings while the market continued to keep a close watch on the extent to which shipments from Argentina would be disrupted by recent labour issues.
“There is dryness expected for a week or so in the U.S. Midwest that will help soybean plantings accelerate,” one analyst said.
Argentina’s government has replaced striking sanitary inspection workers in the main agricultural port of Rosario, allowing shipments to resume, albeit with delays, the head of Rosario’s port operators’ chamber said on Thursday.
Inspection workers with the Apumag union began a 72-hour strike over salaries on Wednesday, halting the bulk of exports from the world’s third biggest soybean shipper and leading exporter of derivative products such as soymeal and soy oil.
The CBOT’s most active corn contract was unchanged at $3.70-1/2 a bushel but on track for a weekly loss of about 1.0 percent.
“The bounce away from the low side of recent trading ranges is encouraging,” said analyst Tobin Gorey of Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
