(Reuters) – Chicago grains and soybean prices were mixed on Monday as the market awaited crop and supply forecasts to be issued later in the day by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
Wheat and soybeans ticked up, while corn eased after rallying 1.5 percent on Friday.
The USDA will publish world grain supply and demand forecasts, quarterly
U.S. grain stocks estimates and a first estimate of the 2015 U.S. wheat area. “The market focus is on the USDA reports with prices being moved as market participants take their positions ahead of the expected USDA figures with a large amount of data being released today,” said Frank Rijkers, agrifood economist at ABN AMRO Bank.
“The figures on U.S. feed grain use will be closely watched as this will give an indication of U.S. demand strength for corn and wheat.”
Chicago Board of Trade March wheat rose 0.2 percent to $5.65-1/4 a bushel by 1137 GMT, not far from Friday’s low of $5.61-3/4 a bushel, its weakest since Nov. 28. March corn fell 0.4 percent to $3.98-1/2 a bushel and March soybeans rose 0.07 percent to $10.53 a bushel.
“Soybeans are seeing some support today as some people believe the USDA may forecast lower ending world stocks following high exports,” Rijkers said.
Germany’s Commerzbank also said the USDA may make a slight downward revision to U.S. soybean stocks after internal and external soybean demand proved surprisingly positive.
“Whether this will be sufficient to shore up the price is uncertain given the substantial supply from South America,” Commerzbank said in a note. Wheat continues to get support from concerns about the impact of recent Russian export restrictions to defend domestic bread supplies, Rijkers said.
Ukraine said on Saturday it had no plans to follow Russia and restrict exports.
U.S. wheat climbed to its highest in almost seven months in December on concerns over the export curbs in leading supplier Russia. But most of those gains have eased in the past three weeks as plentiful global supplies weighed on the market.
“(Chicago March) wheat at $5.50 a bushel will mean the premium for Russian
export worries will largely have gone,” Tobin Gorey of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia said in a note.
