Wednesday, 25 March 2015 17:10
HAMBURG/SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat futures dropped on Wednesday as dealers assessed whether rain forecast for the US Plains will be enough to relieve increasingly parched US wheat crops.
Corn rose to its highest since March 2, underpinned by expectations the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) will estimate reduced US corn plantings in closely-watched forecasts next week.
US wheat had fallen some 2 percent on Tuesday, pressured by forecasts of crop-friendly rains in the United States.
“Wheat is currently under the influence of weather forecasts, with the market assessing whether the rain forecast in the US Plains and east Europe will be enough to relieve crops after fears about dryness helped drive prices to five-week highs this week,” said Frank Rijkers, agrifood economist at ABN AMRO Bank. “We are also seeing some profit-taking on wheat following the recent highs.”
Chicago May wheat fell 0.05 percent to $ 5.23-1/4 a bushel by 1058 GMT, moving in and out of positive territory.
May corn rose 0.3 percent to $ 3.94-1/2 a bushel after touching $ 3.95, the highest since March 2. May Soybeans fell 0.05 percent to $ 9.81-1/4 a bushel.
“Corn is being supported by expectations the USDA will forecast that US farmers will reduce their corn sowings this year when the USDA makes its important plantings forecasts on March 31,” Rijkers said. “Reduced plantings in the US could reduce world corn supplies.”
The USDA plantings report, one of the most important crop reports of the year, may show US farmers have cut corn sowings and increased soybean plantings on hopes of better earnings, a Reuters poll showed.
“Soybeans continue to be weakened by fears that slowing economic growth may reduce China’s soybean imports coupled with pressure from large soybean harvests now being gathered in Brazil and expected in Argentina,” Rijkers said.
Copyright Reuters, 2015
