Reuters — Chicago wheat edged higher after touching a five-year low on Friday, and corn also inched up as investors covered short positions in both grains after recent declines.
The nearby contract for wheat finished with its fourth straight weekly loss in the face of stiff export competition from northern hemisphere harvests, losing four per cent. Front-month corn lost 3.8 per cent, a second straight weekly setback.
Soybeans slipped and registered a 1.8 per cent weekly decline.
Traders tinkered with positions in the crops ahead of the Labour Day weekend.
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The modest bounce for grains was due after recent lows, as traders tried to avoid selling too aggressively before next Friday’s monthly U.S. Department of Agriculture report, said Matt Bennett of Bennett Consulting in Windsor, Illinois.
Private analytics firm Informa Economics on Thursday raised its estimates of U.S. corn and soybean yields, but Bennett said there were doubts elsewhere.
“There’s a lot of speculation that yields are going to be disappointing, especially in the eastern Corn Belt,” he said. “East of me, the weather has not been conducive to this crop finishing well.”
The Chicago Board Of Trade’s (CBOT) December wheat contract gained 2-1/2 cents at $4.67-3/4 per bushel, helped by technical buying (all figures US$). The nearby September contract hovered over $4.55-1/2 a bushel, its lowest since 2010.
Grain futures were curbed by deliveries against soon-to-expire September contracts, reflecting the easy availability of supplies on the cash market.
France’s farm ministry on Friday raised its estimates of this year’s soft wheat and corn crops.
CBOT December corn added 1-1/2 cents at $3.63 per bushel after hitting a three-week low of $3.60-1/2.
November soybeans dipped three cents to $8.66-1/2 a bushel. Traders said technical selling and lingering concerns about demand from China weighed down the oilseed.
— Rod Nickel is a Reuters correspondent covering the ag and mining sectors from Winnipeg. Additional reporting for Reuters by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
