GRAINS-Wheat Eases For 2nd Day on Improved Weather, Soybeans Up For 3rd Day
(Reuters) – Chicago wheat futures slid for a second session on Wednesday, easing further from a six-week high reached earlier this week as improved weather forecasts for the U.S. Plains and other producing countries weighed on the market.
Soybeans rose for a third consecutive session but gains were limited ahead of a widely watched supply-demand report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture due on Thursday.
The Chicago Board Of Trade most-active wheat contract slid 0.2 percent to $4.25-3/4 a bushel, having closed down 0.1 percent on Tuesday.
Soybeans added 0.2 percent to $10.15-3/4 a bushel and corn fell 0.1 percent to $3.57-3/4 a bushel.
The U.S. wheat market is being weighed down by expectations of beneficial rains across the U.S. Plains which have been suffering from dryness.
“We saw some strong gains in the wheat market last week, but now the weather seems to be improving across the northern hemisphere,” said Kaname Gokon at brokerage Okato Shoji in Tokyo.
“Overall we expect sideways trading before the USDA reports on Thursday.”
In Ukraine and Russia, a substantial snow layer has protected winter crops from severe frosts which came this weekend, analyst and weather forecasters said on Tuesday.
But expectations that the USDA reports on Thursday will show a sharp cutback in U.S. winter wheat seedings kept the declines in check.
Soybeans are underpinned by adverse weather in parts of Argentina even though forecasts called for improved conditions.
Dry conditions forecast for Argentina in coming days are expected to help soy and corn crops after heavy rains in late December and early January left 10 percent of its central farm belt with excessive moisture, local weather experts said on Tuesday.
In news, China has increased dumping tariffs on imports of a U.S. animal feed ingredient known as distillers’ dried grains from levels first proposed last year, potentially escalating a trade spat between the world’s two largest economies.
Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT corn and wheat futures on Tuesday, traders said. They were net buyers of CBOT soybeans, soymeal and soyoil.
