* Corn adds 2.4% this week, soybeans up as tightening world supplies support
* Wheat rises for 2nd week on adverse U.S. weather (Adds quote in paragraph 3, updates prices)
By Naveen Thukral
SINGAPORE, April 16 (Reuters) - Chicago corn futures edged higher on Friday and the market was on track for a third consecutive weekly gain, as adverse U.S. weather and strong global demand raised concerns over supplies.
Soybeans were poised for their biggest weekly gain in over a month, while wheat was up for a second week in a row.
"There have been some concerns over the U.S. weather but it is too early to get worried as planting has just started," a Singapore-based trader said.
The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) has gained 2.4% so far this week. The market was up 0.2% at $5.91 a bushel, as of 0346 GMT.
Soybeans have added more than 1% this week, while wheat has gained 2.6%.
Corn prices have climbed to multi-year highs on expectations of lower U.S. planting and cold weather in the United States.
However, high prices are prompting farmers to sell while curbing demand.
The strength in corn triggered some selling in the physical market after it hit targets that farmers had set with grain dealers.
China's wheat feeding to pigs and poultry has dented demand for alternate feeds and clouded the market outlook for soybean meal and other key ingredients used by the country's massive feed sector, analysts and traders said.
Chinese feed producers have sharply raised wheat purchases in the past several months to replace corn, which has rallied by more than a third in the past year to a rare premium over wheat following a drop in corn output and state stockpiles last season.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture report that showed weekly export sales of corn fell below market expectations.
The U.S. soybean crush rebounded in March from a 17-month low the previous month, but the processing pace fell short of most trade estimates, according to data released by the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) on Thursday.
NOPA members, who handle about 95% of all soybeans processed in the United States, crushed 177.984 million bushels of soybeans last month. That was up from 155.158 million bushels in February but below the March 2020 crush of 181.374 million bushels, which was a record high for the month.
Dry weather and a cold surge expected next week pose risk of damage to the wheat crop in the southern U.S. Plains.
Consultancy Strategie Grains on Thursday raised its monthly forecast for soft wheat exports from the European Union and Britain in the 2020/21 season by 200,000 tonnes to 25.4 million tonnes, adding pressure on its low ending-stock forecast.
Investment funds were net buyers of CBOT soybean, wheat, soyoil and soymeal futures contracts on Thursday, traders said. They were net sellers of corn. (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Krishna Chandra Eluri)
© Copyright Thomson Reuters 2021. Click For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
The Link LonkApril 16, 2021 at 10:58AM
https://ift.tt/3mUb2ak
GRAINS-Corn set for third weekly gain, soybeans eye best week in six - Successful Farming
https://ift.tt/3gguREe
Corn
No comments:
Post a Comment