Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell on Wednesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) unexpectedly raised its global supply outlook in a monthly report, citing larger crops in Australia, the U.K. and Kazakhstan that offset lower Argentine and EU production.
A firmer U.S. dollar also weighed on wheat, along with optimism about the continued unfettered flow of grain from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports under a wartime shipping deal.
Soybean futures rebounded from earlier losses as traders weighed USDA’s higher demand outlook against its slightly larger U.S. harvest forecast.
Read Also
Alberta crop conditions improve: report
Varied precipitation and warm temperatures were generally beneficial for crop development across Alberta during the week ended July 8, according to the latest provincial crop report released July 11.
Corn traded higher and lower during the session as USDA raised U.S. production and demand, but ended down on the day.
Analysts polled by Reuters, on average, had expected yields of corn and soy to hold steady with the prior forecast.
Benchmark Chicago Board of Trade December wheat settled 21-1/4 cents lower at $8.06-1/2 a bushel, its lowest since Sept. 6 (all figures US$).
CBOT December corn ended down three cents at $6.64-1/2 a bushel after bottoming at $6.58, the contract’s lowest since Sept. 2. January soybeans were up 5-1/2 cents at $14.52 a bushel.
USDA made only modest adjustments to global grain and oilseed supplies despite expectations for larger revisions following a U.S. drought this summer and worrisome weather in some South American crop areas, analysts said.
“The surprise would be the (U.S.) bean yield increasing, but it was infinitesimal. World numbers did not bring the Argentine wheat production down enough, and raised Australia and Kazakhstan,” said Charlie Sernatinger, analyst with ED+F Man Capital.
Concerns about Mexican demand for U.S. corn after government statements against biotech crops and Chinese demand for U.S. soybeans amid Beijing’s COVID-19 restrictions continue to hang over the market. Uncompetitively priced U.S. exports also weighed on the wheat market.
— Reporting for Reuters by Karl Plume in Chicago; additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris.
