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SINGAPORE, Mar 24: Chicago wheat futures edged down on Tuesday, taking a breather after climbing in the past four sessions to their highest since February 17 amid concerns over US and Russian crop conditions. Corn eased as a 4.5 percent rally in prices in the last two sessions prompted US farmers to sell their stockpiles. Chicago Board of Trade May wheat fell 0.8 percent to $5.29-1/2 a bushel by 0226 GMT, having closed 0.8 percent higher in the previous session when prices hit a five-week high.
Corn lost 0.4 percent to $3.88-3/4 a bushel while soybeans gave up 0.3 percent to $9.80-1/2 a bushel. There were reports of some improvement in US crop conditions but analysts said dry weather in the coming days could add pressure on the crop.
‘Weather forecasters still expect no material rainfall in U.S. hard red winter wheat regions for the next week or so,’ Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note to clients. ‘Given that outcome, forecasters expect soil moisture to be lower by end-March. There is no relief in sight for worries about US wheat.’
Oklahoma winter wheat was rated 44 percent good to excellent, up from 40 percent in the previous week, the US Department of Agriculture said.
Texas winter wheat was rated 55 percent good to excellent, up from 51 percent the week before. US wheat plants have faced a lack of moisture plus severe cold spells this winter, despite some showers in recent days. The Plains will revert to a drier pattern for the next 10 days, with only patchy relief from a few showers in the 11-to-15-day outlook, the Commodity Weather Group said. Russia’s 2015 grain crop may fall short of official forecasts as the condition of winter grains in some key growing regions has deteriorated since last year, the managing director of a large Russian agricultural group said. Spot basis bids for corn were mostly lower at processors and river terminals around the US Midwest on Monday. The rally in the futures market pushed cash prices higher and sparked scattered sales by farmers.
Investment funds bought 8,000 corn contracts, 6,000 soybean contracts and 3,000 wheat contracts, trade sources said.
(AGENCIES)
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