Tuesday, 28 August 2012

GRAINS-Wheat falls for 5th day on Russia sales, storm

Tue Aug 28, 2012
SYDNEY, Aug 28 (Reuters)
- U.S. wheat slipped on Tuesday, extending losses into a fifth session, as fears of a global shortages eased after several sales of Russian wheat, while moisture from Tropical Storm Isaac could help U.S. wheat plantings next month.

FUNDAMENTALS

* Chicago Board Of Trade November soybeans rose slightly to $17.20 a bushel, having closed down 0.74 percent in the previous session after hitting a contract top of $17.60-1/2 a bushel.

* New-crop wheat eased 0.2 percent to $8.79-1/2 a bushel after ending down 0.82 percent on Monday.

* December corn was unchanged at $8.00-3/4 a bushel, having finished down 0.96 percent in the previous session.

* Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, has bought 180,000 tonnes of Russian and Romanian wheat for Oct. 1-10 shipment on a free on board basis, the main government wheat buyer said on Saturday. The sale by Russia also helped to calm speculation that the country could impose a ban on exports due
to drought reducing wheat production in the world's No. 4 exporter this year.

* The drought-parched Midwest farm belt could get up to 5 inches of rain from Tropical Storm Isaac, just in time for wheat planting next month. For farmers gearing up to plant the winter wheat crop, rain could boost soil moisture and get the crop in the world's top wheat exporter off to a good start.

* Rain could be of marginal help to soybeans that were planted late in the season, but not to the bulk of the crop that is fast approaching harvest due to early planting this year.

* U.S. Department of Agriculture's crop progress report showed that 6 percent of the corn crop had been harvested as of Sunday, well below the 10 percent expected by analysts polled by Reuters.

* The harvest was 6 percent complete in Illinois, the No 2 corn state, up from 3 percent the previous week. In top corn state Iowa, the harvest was 2 percent complete while in Nebraska, it was 4 percent, up from 1 percent previously.
 
* But the harvest barely crept forward in key production states around the Midwest as a result of rains, which arrived too late to impact crop quality. In Iowa, the largest production state for corn, harvest progress rose to 2 percent from 0 percent. Illinois farmers were 6 percent complete after
harvesting 3 percent of corn in the past week in the No. 2 production state.

* Farmers were still on a record fast harvest pace but the choice to slow their combines left corn vulnerable to diseases such as aflatoxin. Much of the corn, which had poorly developed stalks due to the summer-long drought, also was at risk of being knocked down if high winds arrive with Tropical Storm Isaac.

* USDA also said that corn was rated 22 percent good to excellent, down 1 percentage point from a week earlier and still the lowest rated crop since 1988.

* Good-to-excellent ratings for soybeans also fell 1 percentage point, to 30 percent.

* Topical Storm Isaac was barreling across the Gulf of Mexico after skimming past south Florida. Based on its current track, it was due to slam into the Gulf Coast between Florida and Louisiana Tuesday night or early Wednesday -- the seventh anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans.

* Grain companies Cargill Inc and Archer Daniels Midland Co shut down some export elevators in Louisiana as a precaution.

* Barge traffic between Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the U.S. Gulf has been suspended due to the threat from Isaac, the Crescent River Port Pilots Association said. The Mississippi River is a major channel for the movement of grains produced in the Midwest farm belt to export terminals at the Gulf of Mexico
for shipment around the world.

MARKET NEWS

* The euro fell against the dollar on Monday in thin trading after a bigger-than-expected drop in German business sentiment even as it raised hopes in some that the euro zone's largest economy will do more to revive the bloc's growth.

* Brent crude oil futures fell toward $112 a barrel on Monday, reversing early gains as Tropical Storm Isaac shuttered refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, cutting demand for crude.

* Shares of Apple climbed to another record on Monday, keeping the Nasdaq index afloat in the lowest trading volume of the year, with investors looking ahead to a key speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday.

  Grains prices at  0042 GMT
  Contract        Last    Change  Pct chg  Two-day chg MA 30   RSI
  CBOT wheat     879.50    -1.75  -0.20%    -1.01%     906.73   39
  CBOT corn      801.00     0.25  +0.03%    -0.93%     802.67   42
  CBOT soy      1719.75     1.00  +0.06%    -0.68%    1641.10   58
  CBOT rice      $15.60    $0.00  +0.03%    -2.01%     $15.49   40
  WTI crude      $95.49    $0.02  +0.02%    -0.69%     $92.51   53
  Currencies                                               
  Euro/dlr       $1.249  -$0.001  -0.06%    -0.15%
  USD/AUD         1.035   -0.002  -0.16%    -0.48%
  Most active contracts
  Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight
  RSI 14, exponential

(Editing by Ed Davies)

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