Chicago wheat futures lost ground on Wednesday, as the market took a breather after climbing last week to its highest in more than eight years on concerns over global supplies.
Soybeans and corn futures edged lower.
“Wheat production outlook is not looking great in several parts of the Northern Hemisphere,” said Phin Ziebell, an agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank in Melbourne. “It is becoming more of a sellers’ market.”
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) lost 0.2% to $7.47 a bushel by 0302 GMT, having closed down 3.4% on Tuesday. Wheat hit a February 2013 high of $7.75 a bushel last week.
Soybeans were down 0.3% at $13.57 a bushel, having closed down 0.5% on Tuesday and corn fell 0.1% to $5.62-3/4 a bushel, after closing down 0.9% in the previous session.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week made steep cuts to its monthly world crop projections, fuelling global supply concerns.
Egypt, the world’s top wheat importer, set an international purchase tender. The market awaits results expected on Wednesday to get a gauge on global prices.
The USDA confirmed private sales of 198,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to China, the world’s top importer of the oilseed, and another 132,000 tonnes to unknown buyers.
Nebraska corn yield prospects are higher than last year and the three-year average, but soybean pod counts are down from a year ago, scouts on an annual tour of top U.S. production states found on Tuesday.
The USDA late Monday lowered its condition ratings for the U.S. soybean and corn crops, bucking analysts’ expectations for no changes.
South Korea has emerged as the top export destination for European Union wheat at the start of the 2021/22 season, one of several Asian countries to see large shipments from the 27-country bloc, European Commission data showed on Tuesday.
EU soft wheat exports in the 2021/22 season, which started in July, had reached 2.33 million tonnes by Aug. 15, including about 407,000 tonnes shipped to South Korea, the data showed.
Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT wheat, corn, soybean and soyoil futures contracts on Tuesday and net buyers of soymeal futures, traders said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Rashmi Aich)