Wheat under pressure as U.S. crop conditions improve; soybeans firm

Chicago wheat futures were little changed on Tuesday with improved ratings of the U.S. winter crop keeping a lid on prices, while soybeans and corn ticked higher.

“An improvement in U.S. weather is going to take out the weather risk premium which has been built into the market,” said one Singapore-based trader said. “But we think, it might be too early to sell down the market just yet.”

The most-active Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean contract Sv1 was up 0.7 percent at USD$15.96 a bushel, as of 0332 GMT, after falling on Monday to USD$15.78, its lowest since April 4.

Wheat Wv1 rose quarter of a cent to USD$10.93 a bushel, while corn Cv1 inched up 0.4 percent to USD$7.74-3/4 a bushel.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday rated 29 percent of the U.S. winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition, up 2 percentage points from the previous week and a bigger improvement than most analysts had expected, but still among the lowest ratings on record for this point in the year.

Delayed corn planting amid cold, wet conditions has led some traders to anticipate a shift to soybean plantings, but improved conditions across much of the U.S. Midwest have accelerated planting progress.

Dry weather in France will have a negative impact on this year’s production of winter cereals by reducing yield potential for some crops, the French agriculture ministry said on Monday.

Wheat inched lower as recent rainfall across parts of the U.S. Plains quenched winter crops plagued by drought.

Canada will help Ukraine work out options on how to export stored grain to address global food security that has been shaken by Russia’s invasion of the country, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said late on Sunday.

Markets also began positioning ahead of the USDA’s upcoming monthly global supply and demand report, scheduled for Thursday, May 12, traders said.

Tags: U.S., futures, contract, winter cereals, weather, soybean, Production, wheat, yield