BLBG:Wheat Drops on Favorable U.S. Weather Forecast as 4.6% Rally Spurs Selling
Wheat declined on signs of improved weather in parts of the U.S., the world’s biggest exporter, and as a two-day 4.6 percent rally to the highest price in more than four months prompted selling.
Wheat for March delivery fell as much as 1 percent to $6.6775 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and traded at $6.69 at 11:11 a.m. in Singapore. The grain rose to the highest since Sept. 20 yesterday amid concern that sub-zero temperatures spreading across Russia and parts of Europe may harm crops.
“It’s not unusual to see the market off a little bit when you have a reasonable move overnight,” said Adam Davis, a commodity trader at Merricks Capital Services Pty in Melbourne. Mainly favorable conditions are forecast for the soft red winter wheat crop of the east and south Midwest and the Delta, forecaster Telvent DTN said in a report yesterday.
Moderate to locally heavy rain and snow is also probable in the next few days in the central and southern plains regions in the U.S., aiding the wheat crop, according to Telvent.
Russia’s grain areas in the south mostly have enough snow to protect against damage from frosts, the Federal Hydrometeorological Center said yesterday. Snow was 35 centimeters (14 inches) deep in the European part of Russia for the last 10 days of January and frosts are weakening, Anna Strashnaya, head of the agricultural-forecasts department at the center, said yesterday.
Corn, Soybeans
Showers may develop during the coming weekend in key corn and soybean areas in Argentina, with rainfall helping to improve conditions for later planted crops, according to Telvent.
In Brazil, most of Rio Grande do Sul should get good rain coverage over the next eight days, with coverage in Parana and Santa Catarina below normal, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. analysts Paul Deane and Victor Thianpiriya wrote in an e-mailed note today. The three states account for more than a third of Brazil’s soybean production, they said.
Corn for March delivery fell 0.4 percent to $6.395 a bushel, snapping a two-day advance. March-delivery soybeans dropped 0.3 percent to $12.115 a bushel after a 1.4 percent rally yesterday.
To contact the reporter for this story: Phoebe Sedgman in Melbourne at psedgman2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net
