BLBG:Wheat Rebounds After U.S. Weekly Export Sales Increase on Prices
Wheat gained, paring a fourth weekly loss, after a report showed that U.S. export sales more than doubled as the lowest price in seven-months lured buyers.
The contract for delivery in May, the most-active by open interest, advanced as much as 0.6 percent to $7.4475 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, and was at $7.4275 at 1:29 p.m. in Singapore. Futures are poised for a 1.9 percent loss this week. The most-active contract fell to $7.225 on Feb. 13, the lowest for a most-active contract since June 26.
Total net export sales climbed to 706,252 metric tons in the week ended Feb. 7, compared with 300,779 in the preceding week, according to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture released yesterday. Wheat has fallen 4.5 percent this year on expectations of larger crops.
“The improvement in export sales will encourage the bulls in the wheat market,” Luke Mathews, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a report today. Exports are increasing because of the price drop, he said.
Wheat has led a decline in grain prices this year on speculation that rains in some growing areas in the U.S. may aid crop development as the largest shipper recovers from the worst drought since the 1930s. Corn has lost 0.7 percent this year, while soybeans are down 0.3 percent. The declines in corn and wheat present a buying opportunity, according to Abah Ofon, an analyst at Standard Chartered Plc in Singapore.
“The weather remains a risk,” Ofon said in a report dated yesterday. “A repeat of last year’s U.S. drought this summer could reverse the current bearish price direction.”
Corn for May delivery was little changed at $6.9325 a bushel today. Futures fell for a 10th straight session yesterday, capping the longest slump since 1965. Futures fell to $6.855 on Feb. 13, the lowest for a most-active contract since Jan. 8.
Soybeans for May delivery fell 0.2 percent to $14.055 a bushel. Futures are poised for a 3.2 percent loss this week, the most since the five days ended Jan. 4.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in Singapore at cchanjaroen@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net.
