Wheat drops to three-week low as U.S. rains lift production prospects

Article content

SINGAPORE/PARIS — Chicago wheat futures

dropped to a three-week low on Monday, falling for a fourth

session, as rains in key growing parts of the U.S. Plains

provided much-needed relief to the crop.

Corn and soybean prices eased with focus on U.S. planting.

“The trigger for the fall seems to have been the prospect of

some much-needed rainfall in very dry Hard Red Winter (HRW)

wheat regions,” said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural

strategy at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Article content

“The rainfall up until Sunday morning was not impressive,

sprinkles in south west Nebraska are not relief. The rainfall

though might have accelerated through Sunday. And the rainfall

opportunity extends into this week.”

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade

(CBOT) was down 1.0% at $10.44-3/4 a bushel, as of 1045

GMT, after hitting its lowest since April 8 at $10.34-1/4 a

bushel earlier in the session.

Corn fell 1.6% to $8.00 -3/4 a bushel and soybeans

lost 1% to $16.67-1/2 a bushel.

Conditions for U.S. winter wheat have fallen to their

weakest since 1989, but recent rains have provided relief to

crops as they approach key phases of development.

Losses in the corn market were limited by concerns over dry

Article content

weather in central Brazil. Like the later U.S. harvest Brazil’s

main corn crop is seen as critical to help offset disruption to

Ukrainian exports.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday

Ukraine could lose tens of millions of tonnes of grain due to

Russia’s control of Black Sea shipping, triggering a food crisis

that will affect Europe, Asia and Africa.

Strategie Grains consultancy raised its forecast for this

year’s sunflower crop in the European Union to take account of a

rise in area as farmers use an EU authorisation to use fallow

land to compensate for potential shortages in Black Sea

supplies.

European rapeseed front-month contract August was

down 3.9% to 826.75 euros ($869.41) a tonne after hitting a

Article content

three-week low of 824.00 euros in earlier trade.

Large speculators cut their net long position in CBOT corn

futures in the week to April 26, regulatory data released on

Friday showed.

Prices at 1045 GMT

Last Change Pct

Move

CBOT wheat 1044,75 -11,00 -1,04

CBOT corn 800,75 -12,75 -1,57

CBOT soy 1667,50 -17,25 -1,02

Paris wheat 400,25 -0,50 -0,12

Paris maize 346,75 -2,50 -0,72

Paris rapeseed 826,75 -33,50 -3,89

WTI crude oil 101,36 -3,33 -3,18

Euro/dlr 1,0522 0,00 -0,18

Most active contracts – Wheat, corn and soy US

cents/bushel, Paris futures in euros per tonne

($1 = 0.9509 euros)

(Reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Sybille de La

Hamaide in Paris; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and

Bernadette Baum)