SINGAPORE — Chicago wheat futures lost more ground on Tuesday, trading close to the previous session’s 17-month low, as rains in parts of the U.S. winter wheat belt and optimism over a Russia-Ukraine export deal kept the market under pressure.
Corn dropped to its lowest since early December and soybeans fell for a fifth consecutive session.
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“South and central western Hard Red Winter (in the U.S.) regions remain too dry for now,” said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
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“Weather forecasters though have firmed up a significant snowfall event for these troubled regions later this week. That snow is likely to provide significant moisture.”
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.4% at $7.07-1/4 a bushel, as of 0322 GMT, after dropping to its lowest since September 2021 at $7.05-3/4 a bushel on Monday.
Corn slid 0.2% to $6.42-1/4 a bushel, having dropped to its weakest since Dec. 8 at $6.42 a bushel, and soybeans gave up 0.4% to $15.06-1/4 a bushel.
For the month, wheat has lost more than 7%, falling for the fifth month in a row, corn is down 5.5% and soybeans have fallen 2%, on track for first monthly decline in five months.
Rains in dry parts of the U.S. Plains have improved hard red winter wheat prospects.
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Condition ratings for winter wheat declined during February in Kansas, the top U.S. winter wheat producer, but improved in Oklahoma, the No. 3 grower, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday.
Optimism that the deal allowing grain shipments from Black Sea ports in war-torn Ukraine will be renewed in the coming weeks pressured both corn and wheat. The agreement has increased competition for suppliers of wheat and corn and expires in March.
Export demand for U.S. grain has slumped despite the fighting between key global suppliers Russia and Ukraine.
Brazil’s biggest grain state Mato Grosso is expected to sow around 20% of its 2022/2023 second corn crop outside the ideal climate window, farmer group Imea said on Monday.
Second corn, which represents about 75% of overall national corn output, is planted after soybeans are harvested in the same areas. Delays in the soy harvesting, however, are pushing back corn planting, according to Imea.
Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT wheat, corn, soybean and soyoil futures contracts on Monday, traders said. They were net buyers of soymeal futures. (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Subhranshu Sahu)
