Wednesday, 11 November 2015 00:38
CHICAGO: US corn fell to a two-month low on Tuesday, while wheat futures sank to a two-week bottom and soybeans eased as investors squared positions and awaited the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s monthly supply and demand report.
The USDA is expected to slightly increase its U.S. corn and soybean production forecasts in the report, due to be issued at 1700 GMT (1 PM ET). The agency may also trim its U.S. corn export outlook for the current season while upping that for Brazilian corn exports.
Dealers also said concern about the slow pace of U.S. wheat exports could be reinforced by the USDA report.
“The majority of surveys expect estimates of U.S. ending stocks … to be upwardly revised. The main reason cited for this is the unsatisfactory export demand for U.S. wheat,” Commerzbank said in a market note.
Dealers said overall global wheat supplies remained ample, and U.S. supplies have struggled to compete in recent international tenders.
No U.S. wheat was offered in an overnight tender by Egypt’s state buyer GASC. The lowest offer in the tender, which closed on Tuesday, was for Ukrainian wheat, traders said.
Chicago Board of Trade December wheat shed 7 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $ 4.94-3/4 a bushel by 10:13 a.m. CST (1613 GMT), the lowest since Oct. 26.
CBOT December corn fell 2-1/4 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $ 3.64-1/2 a bushel, the lowest since Sept. 11.
The contract has come under additional pressure from a sluggish U.S. export pace after the USDA reported lower-than-expected export inspections on Monday.
“Seasonal lows at $ 3.60 are now in sight. The USDA reported very low U.S. corn export inspections for the past week,” analyst Tobin Gorey of Commonwealth Bank of Australia said.
CBOT January soybeans dipped 4 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $ 8.62-1/4 a bushel.
The USDA is expected to report that domestic soybean production and yields were bigger than previously forecast despite a reduction in the estimate of harvested acreage.
Brazil’s government crop supply agency Conab also raised its forecast for a record national 2015/16 soybean crop to between 101.2 million and 102.8 million tonnes, from 100.1 million to 101.9 million tonnes seen last month.
