“Wheat continues to be supported by focus on crop damage in several exporting regions and soybeans and corn are underpinned by worry about weather in parts of the U.S.,” said Matt Ammermann, commodity risk manager with INTL FCStone. Chicago Board of Trade most active wheat futures were up 0.3 percent at $5.48-1/4 a bushel at 1042 GMT. Soybeans rose 0.7 percent to $8.97-1/4 a bushel while corn climbed 0.6 percent to $3.83-3/4 a bushel. Corn hit a 1-1/2-month high on Monday as dryness in parts of the U.S. corn belt threatened
harvest prospects.
“Poor weather is damaging crops in rival wheat exporters to the U.S. such as Russia, parts of the European Union and Australia,” Ammermann said. “Overall, wheat markets are now awaiting more detailed confirmation or new estimates to validate
the truth or not of recent reports of crop damage.”
On Thursday, the International Grains Council forecast world wheat production will drop to a five-year low.
German farmers are seeking over $1 billion in emergency aid after drought damage to grain and other crops, but the country’s
farm ministry is waiting for more detailed harvest estimates in late August.
Ammermann said soybeans and corn were seeing some buying interest on concern about hot and dry weather in some U.S. production areas. August is a key month for soybean development so markets are sensitive to U.S. weather, he said. Gains in corn and soybeans were limited after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) assessed of U.S. crop
conditions above market forecasts.
The USDA put 70 percent of the U.S. soybean crop at good-to-excellent condition, beating analysts’ expectations of 69 percent.
Some 72 percent of the corn crop was in good-to-excellent condition, surpassing market expectations of 71 percent, the USDA added.
Source: Agriculture.com
Source: Agriculture.com
