BLBG:Wheat Falls as Ukraine May Ship More Than Expected; Corn Slips
Wheat declined for the first time in three days on speculation that Ukraine may have more grain left to ship this year, helping ease global supply concerns.
The grain for delivery in December lost as much as 0.7 percent to $8.7075 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, before trading at $8.73 at 9:06 a.m. Singapore time. Ukraine, along with Russia, restricted shipments in 2010 because of drought, helping push futures up 47 percent that year.
The third-largest wheat shipper in the former Soviet Union has increased its exportable wheat surplus to 5.5 million metric tons in the year that began July 1, agricultural researcher UkrAgroConsult said. Ukraine ships an average of 5 million tons a year, it said. Futures jumped as much as 3 percent on Oct. 24 on concern Ukraine may ban exports.
“Any news around potential Black Sea supply into the global market is likely to have a sizable impact on prices,” Michael Creed, an agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank Ltd., said by phone from Melbourne today.
Ukraine’s shipments will not threaten food security, and the government won’t take radical steps that are not coordinated with traders, to limit exports, UkrAgroConsult said on its website, citing Agriculture Minister Mykola Prysyazhnyuk.
Soybeans for delivery in January slipped 0.3 percent to $15.11 a bushel in Chicago, while corn for delivery in December dropped 0.2 percent to $7.3925 a bushel.
Dry weather in parts of Brazil, poised to be the world’s largest soybean grower this year, and excessive rainfall in Argentina, dimmed supply prospects, Oil World said yesterday. Forecasts that harvests in South America will rise to an all- time high are premature, the Hamburg-based researcher said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net
