Chicago wheat futures edged lower on Friday, but the market was set for a third weekly gain as tightening supplies in top exporters Russia and the United States underpinned values.
Corn slid 0.8% and soybeans fell 0.4%.
“There was a reduction in global wheat supply forecast, especially Russian production,” said one Singapore-based trader. “But most of the bad news of supply front has been factored into the market.”
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) lost 0.6% to $7.49 a bushel by 0233 GMT. The market has added almost 10% in a three-week rally.
Corn has risen 2.5% this week, while soybeans were little changed.
Lower wheat supplies from Russia, the world’s biggest exporter, and the United States are still buoying prices.
On Wednesday, two leading agriculture consultancies in Moscow – IKAR and Sovecon – cut their estimates of Russia’s 2021 wheat crop due to dry and hot weather.
The U.S. government slashed its outlook for domestic corn production by 2.7% and its soybean harvest view by 1.5% on Thursday, as dry soils in key western growing areas cut into the potential for a bumper harvest.
The dry conditions also hampered U.S. wheat production, which was forecast at a 19-year low of 1.697 billion bushels, 2.8% below the government’s July forecast.
Grain group Soufflet said on Thursday that much of the new-crop soft wheat and durum wheat in France was showing weak quality results after a rain-affected harvest.
Heavy summer rain has slowed harvesting in France and other European Union countries, leading to some low readings for quality criteria that determine wheat’s suitability for milling.
However, Argentina’s 2021/22 soybean harvest is expected to be at 49 million tonnes, the Rosario grains exchange said in its monthly report on Thursday, after a drought on the Pampas farm belt reduced the previous season’s crop to 45 million tonnes.
Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn, wheat, soybean and soymeal futures contracts on Thursday, traders said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Amy Caren Daniel)