(Reuters) – Chicago wheat fell on Tuesday, with plentiful global supplies giving stiff competition to U.S. exporters, while corn slid for a second day as a stronger dollar weighed on commodities.
Soybeans ticked higher, supported by widespread flooding in Malaysia that threatens to reduce supplies of rival palm oil in the world’s second-largest producer.
Wheat, which jumped to its highest since late May earlier this month on concern over Russian supplies, is giving up gains because of a lack of demand for U.S. wheat.
Chicago Board of Trade March wheat fell 0.6 percent to $6.12 a bushel by 0636 GMT and corn gave up 0.2 percent to $4.12 a bushel. January soybeans gained 0.5 percent to $10.47-1/4 a bushel.
“But higher-quality milling wheat is in reasonably short supply.”
Iraq’s purchase of Canadian, U.S. and Australian wheat in a tender in which no Russian wheat was offered showed the potential for other exporters to benefit from dwindling Russian shipments.
But Russia has assured top importer Egypt it would receive wheat booked for January shipment.
Severe monsoon flooding in Malaysia is likely to cause a bigger-than-expected disruption to crude palm oil production, which could bolster demand for soybean oil.
On Monday, corn rose to its highest since July as export data from the U.S. Agriculture Department showed stronger-than-expected sales in the latest reporting week, but the market could not sustain those gains in the face of technical selling.
U.S. corn export sales in the week ended Dec. 18 hit a 10-week high of 1.7 million tonnes, above trade forecasts for 500,000 to 800,000 tonnes.
There was additional pressure on grains and oilseeds as a strengthening U.S. dollar made commodities expensive for importers holding other currencies.
The euro dipped to a 29-month low against the dollar on Tuesday as the announcement of a snap election in Greece threw the country into a fresh round of political turmoil.
