Wheat in Chicago extended losses on Friday, hitting a three-month low after modest weekly US exports kept traders focused on competing with cheaper Black Sea supplies.
Corn prices also fell while soybeans rebounded after selling in the previous session on disappointing levels of biofuels in the United States.
The most active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 1.9 percent to $7.68 and a half a bushel, after earlier falling to its lowest since August 19.
Record Russian harvests and a grain export corridor from Ukraine have boosted export competition for US supplies.
“We’re worried about Ukraine and Russia,” said Jack Scoville, vice president of Price Futures Group. They continue to flood the world market with wheat and their prices are much cheaper than ours.”
The US Department of Agriculture said on Thursday that US wheat export sales totaled 162,500 tons in the week ending November 24, far below analysts’ expectations, which ranged between 300,000 and 725,000 tons.
Wheat prices fell even after the wheat crop of all kinds in Canada came in lower than expected due to drought conditions, according to Statistics Canada. But France’s crop is doing well as winter enters, with estimates indicating that about 98 percent of the soft wheat was in good or excellent condition in the week ending November 28.
Scoville, of Price Futures Group, said corn prices fell 1.6 percent to $6.50 and a quarter of a bushel, and were also facing fears of weak export demand.
Existing sales of US corn to importing countries, which were ranked second to fifth last year, are down 71 percent over the year.
Soybeans rose 0.3 percent to $14.34 and a quarter of a cent a bushel, after enjoying technical support just above Thursday’s low of $14.25 and a quarter of a cent a bushel.
Soybeans and broader commodity markets gained support in recent sessions on signs of China relaxing rules to tackle COVID-19 after rare popular protests in the world’s second-largest economy. (Archyde.com)