(Reuters) – Chicago wheat slipped to its lowest in more than two weeks early on Monday due to weak export prospects.
Corn fell for a second session as record global supplies continue to pressure the market. Soybeans ticked up to hold on to recent gains, supported by a truck strike in Brazil that has added to short-term supply concerns in the South American country.
Chicago Board of Trade March wheat inched down a quarter of a cent to $5.10 a bushel by 1044 GMT. It earlier touched $5.07-1/2, its lowest since Feb. 4, after adding to a 3.3 percent drop on Friday.
Corn fell 0.3 percent to $3.84-1/4 a bushel, having slid 1.2 percent on Friday. March soybeans rose 0.5 percent to $10.04-1/4.
“The U.S. wheat market could break down to below $5 this week as it is facing stiff competition from suppliers in Europe, mainly France,” said Kaname Gokon, general manager of research at brokerage Okato Shoji in Tokyo.
The U.S. market endured a run of disappointing export news last week.
The U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA) on Friday reported weekly export sales of at the low end of the range of analyst forecasts.
Morocco’s grain agency bought European Union wheat in a tender but received no offers in a parallel tender to buy U.S. durum and soft wheat. Earlier in the week, Egypt’s state grain buyer bought 240,000 tonnes of French and Romanian wheat after scrapping a tender for U.S. wheat only, citing high prices.
Analysts said an initial USDA forecast on Friday calling for higher U.S. wheat production and stocks next season, despite a projected fall in sowings, also curbed prices.
Soybeans remained supported by strong demand for U.S. beans as the movement of cargoes from Brazil’s ongoing harvest remains slow.
Truckers protesting high diesel prices in Brazil used road blocks to restrict the flow of commodities in the top soybean-producing region of Mato Grosso for a third day on Friday.
But analysts said soybeans would be capped by large global output, playing down a surprise USDA estimate calling for a drop in U.S. soybean plantings.
“The market seems to be sceptical about the USDA’s forecast for a large fall in US soybean planting in the 2015 season,” Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy for Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note to clients.
