U.S. wheat futures rose on Thursday for a second straight session, as strong buying by top importers including Egypt supported prices.
Soybeans firmed after closing lower on Wednesday.
“Chicago price strength is driven by tightness in Black Sea supplies,” said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 rose 0.4% to $7.49-1/4 a bushel by 0607 GMT, after closing up 0.2% in the previous session.
Soybeans Sv1 were up 0.2% at $12.44-1/2 a bushel, while corn Cv1 added 0.1% at $5.33 a bushel.
Egypt’s state grains buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities, said it bought 180,000 tonnes of Russian wheat and 60,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat in an international tender. No U.S. supplies were offered in the tender.
Soft wheat exports from the European Union in the 2021/22 season that started in July had reached 8.07 million tonnes by Oct. 3, up from 5.56 million tonnes by the same week in 2020/21.
In Ukraine, the agriculture ministry lowered its forecast for the 2021 grain harvest to 80.25 million tonnes from 80.63 million, ministry data showed on Wednesday.
India’s wheat exports in 2021 could quadruple from a year ago to the highest level in eight years, as a rally in global prices and higher freight costs make Indian wheat lucrative for Asian buyers, two industry officials told Reuters.
Gains in corn and soybean futures were checked by ample supplies from the freshly harvested U.S. supplies.
Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT corn, soybean and soyoil futures contracts on Wednesday, traders said. Funds were seen as net buyers of CBOT wheat and soymeal futures.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Subhranshu Sahu)