Wheat's rally pauses as adverse weather threatens supply
CANBERRA, April 29 (Reuters) -Chicago wheat futures edged lower on Monday but remained near four-month highs after concerns that adverse weather conditions in Russia, Europe and the United States could reduce supply pushed prices up around 10% last week.
Corn and soybean prices were little changed.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 was down 0.2% at $6.21-1/4 a bushel by 0104 GMT after rising to $6.33-1/4 on Friday.
* CBOT soybeans Sv1 rose 0.3% to $11.81 a bushel and corn Cv1 was up 0.2% at $4.51 a bushel.
* Wheat prices rose for seven consecutive trading sessions as speculative investors were forced to cover some of their large short positions.
* In Russia, the world's biggest wheat exporter, the state weather forecaster said it sees a threat of drought persisting in May in the eastern half of the Southern Federal District, a key cropping region.
* Russian export prices rose last week but the country is still shipping record quantities of wheat after two consecutive bumper harvests.
* Russia's 2024 grain harvest could drop to 132 million metric tons from 144.9 tons in 2023, the country's agriculture ministry said last week.
* Dry weather in parts of the central United States and freezing conditions in parts of Europe were also fuelling supply concerns.
* The European Commission last week cut its forecast for the European Union's main wheat crop in 2024/25 to a new four-year low.
* In France, the EU's top producer, the condition of soft wheat crops edged down last week to remain at a four-year low, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed.
* Wheat's rally follows a long period during which plentiful cheap supply from the Black Sea pushed lower, with CBOT wheat falling in March to $5.23-1/2, its lowest since 2020.
* Russia continues to ship huge amounts of wheat. Ukraine's grain exports could also total 6-7 million tons in April despite Russian attacks on its port infrastructure.
* Corn and soybeans are also near four-year lows hit in February amid plentiful supply.
MARKETS NEWS
* Global stocks rose on Friday as Big Tech gains lifted Wall Street shares, while Japan's yen sank to a 34-year low after the Bank of Japan (BOJ) kept monetary policy loose. MKTS/GLOB
Reporting by Peter Hobson
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
