SINGAPORE, Mar 3: Chicago wheat was little changed on Tuesday after suffering its biggest daily loss in more than two months in the last session, pressured by a lack of demand for US supplies as the dollar strengthens. Soybean prices inched up after declining 1.7 percent on Monday, although gains were capped by easing concerns over Brazilian supplies.
‘The weekend, passing without the extreme temperature lows in hard red winter wheat regions, eased market fears for crops without snow cover,’ Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy for Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note to clients.
‘Moreover the trade may well be setting itself for a stronger US dollar.’
A stronger dollar, which is hovering around an 11-year high against a basket of currencies, has eroded the competitiveness of U.S. products.
Wheat fell 2.5 percent on Monday, its biggest loss since Dec. 24, following news that top importer Egypt had snapped up 110,000 tonnes of Russian and Ukrainian supplies in its latest tender.
Chicago Board of Trade May wheat was unchanged at $5.00 a bushel by 0309 GMT, while May soybeans added 0.2 percent to $10.15-1/4 a bushel.
Recent snow in the US Plains and Midwest provided a protective blanket for the dormant crop in key production areas, calming fears about freeze damage and causing some investors to take a risk premium out of the market. More snow was forecast, which will further boost soil moisture. Condition ratings for the Kansas hard red winter wheat crop slipped amid bitter cold temperatures in February but still remained in mostly good shape as the crop heads into the late stage of dormancy, according to the state crop report on Monday.
In the largest producer of the main US bread wheat, crop ratings fell to 44 percent good to excellent as of March 1, down 2 percentage points from January. Brazil’s truckers continued their protests on Monday but road blockages were down to 24 from 99 a week ago. The government cracked down on protesters and promised to implement a law to lower toll costs. The US Department of Agriculture said weekly export inspections of soybeans fell to 635,164 tonnes in the latest week, below forecasts for 750,000 to 950,000 tonnes. (AGENCIES)
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