Ample supply pushes wheat lower despite poor French harvest
Adds analyst comment, updates prices
CANBERRA, Aug 19 (Reuters) -Chicago wheat futures fell on Monday, with expectations of ample global supply maintaining pressure on the market despite heavy rains that have led to poor harvests in France and Germany.
Soybean and corn futures rose after selling by U.S. farmers and forecasts for massive U.S. yields sent prices to four-yearlows.
The September soft red winter wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) WU24 was down 0.4% at $5.28 a bushel by 0303 GMT. Prices fell to $5.14-1/2 late last month, the lowest for the CBOT most active contract since 2020.
CBOT corn Cv1 rose 0.6% to $3.94-3/4 a bushel and soybeans Sv1 were up 1% at $9.66-3/4 a bushel.
Speculators are betting heavily on lower prices for all three crops on the CBOT,increasing their short positions in the week ended Aug. 13.
French farmers have almost finished gathering theirsmallest wheat harvest since 1980 and Germany is on track for itslowest production since 2018 due to heavy rains damaging crops.
However, plentiful supply from the Black Sea region iskeeping pressure on prices. The International Grains Council (IGC) last week trimmed its 2024/25 global wheat production forecast butsaid output would still be higher than in 2023/24.
Weather concerns in parts of the Black Sea, Argentina and the United States are unlikely to lift grain and oilseed prices, said independent analyst Tobin Gorey.
"Comfortable global crop supply will likely absorb production losses," he wrote in a research note.
He said wheat was less plentiful than other crops but "the comfortable supply in other grains remains a heavy anchor for wheat prices."
Corn and soybeans can be used as alternatives for wheat in animal feed.
Concerns over China's economy and weak Chinese demand for U.S. soy have also weighed on CBOT futures, traders say.
Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Janane Venkatraman
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