(Reuters) – Chicago wheat was largely unchanged on Monday, trading near its lowest since late November as a lack of demand for expensive U.S. cargoes weighed on prices.
Corn eased after rallying in the previous session, while soybeans were nearly flat with investors squaring positions ahead of key U.S. government reports on global supply and demand for agricultural products due at 1700 GMT.
Chicago Board of Trade March wheat eased a quarter of a cent to $5.63-1/2 a bushel by 0246 GMT, not far from Friday’s low of $5.61-3/4 a bushel, its weakest since Nov. 28.
Corn gave up 0.2 percent to $3.99-1/2 a bushel and soybeans were trading a quarter of a cent higher at $10.52-1/2 a bushel.
“(Chicago March) wheat at $5.50 a bushel will mean the premium for Russian export worries will largely have gone,” Tobin Gorey, director of agriculture strategy for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note to clients.
“The market does have tonight’s USDA crop report in focus – the U.S. domestic feed number is critical,” he said referring to corn prices.
U.S. wheat climbed to its highest in almost seven months in December on concerns over 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.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will publish its world grain supply and demand forecasts, quarterly U.S. grain stocks estimates and a first estimate of the 2015 U.S. wheat area.
Wheat is under pressure as U.S. offerings are seen too expensive to attract export business amid ample global supplies.
The USDA said that private exporters reported the sale of 136,000 tonnes of corn to South Korea, as well as 116,000 tonnes of sorghum to unknown destinations.
Large speculators cut their net long position in CBOT corn futures in the week to Jan. 6, regulatory data released on Friday showed.
