Tue Feb 26, 2013
* Wheat little changed, near lowest since June
* Snowfall across U.S. Plains boosts winter wheat crop
* Argentina soy harvest seen smaller at 48 mln tonnes
By Naveen Thukral
SINGAPORE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat was little changed on Tuesday, languishing near its lowest since June due to improved crop weather across the U.S. grain belt, while corn edged higher for a second straight session.
Soybeans ticked up, recouping ground from two sessions of losses, on a forecast of a smaller crop in Argentina, although the rapidly advancing harvest of Brazil's record soy crop capped gains.
Recent storms helped improve wheat conditions across the U.S. Plains, but more moisture was needed to ensure healthy development when the crop breaks dormancy this spring.
In Kansas, the largest producer of hard red winter wheat, the crop was rated 23 percent good to excellent as of Feb. 24, up from 20 percent a month ago, according to a report issued on Monday by the state field office of the U.S. Agriculture Department's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
A potent winter storm bore down on the U.S. southern Plains on Monday, dumping more than a foot of snow and creating blizzard conditions in Oklahoma, Texas and parts of Kansas still digging out from a winter storm last week.
"We have seen significant snowfalls across the U.S. and it is allaying any moisture concerns as the crop comes out of dormancy," said Brett Cooper, a senior markets manager at INTL FCStone Australia.
Chicago Board of Trade March wheat had gained a quarter of a cent to $7.05-1/2 a bushel by 0212 GMT, after touching an 8-month low of $6.98 a bushel on Monday.
The soybean market was underpinned as Argentina's Rosario grains exchange lowered its forecast for the nation's soybean crop to 48 million tonnes, down almost 10 percent from a month ago as a long dry spell eroded yields.
Scant rainfall from early January until the middle of last week pushed global grains prices higher on supply concerns and spurred analysts to trim their production estimates. Many crops are passing through yield-defining growth stages.
But Rains in the last few days in Argentina's main crop belt arrived just in time to avert serious damage to soy and corn crops in the world's No. 3 exporter.
"Argentina's grains exchange lowered its bean crop to 48 million tonnes which is making some people think that the USDA might revise down its numbers for South American soybean output," said Cooper.
BRAZIL HARVEST
CBOT March soybeans rose 0.4 percent to $14.56-1/2 a bushel and March corn also added 0.4 percent to $6.96-1/4 a bushel.
Brazil's 2013/14 soybean harvest accelerated over the past week as weather over the grain belt turned drier and allowed producers to make progress in collecting what is expected to be a record crop.
As of Feb. 22, producers had harvested 28 percent of Brazil's planted soybean area, up from 19 percent a week earlier but slightly down from the 29 percent harvested by this time last year when drought reduced the crop size, local grain crop analysts Celeres said on Monday.
Commodity funds sold a net 5,000 CBOT soybean contracts on Monday, trade sources said. They sold 3,000 wheat and bought 3,000 corn contracts.
Prices at 0212 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct chg MA 30 RSI
CBOT wheat 705.50 0.25 +0.04% 867.93 21
CBOT corn 696.25 2.75 +0.40% 765.12 40
CBOT soy 1456.50 5.25 +0.36% 1579.09 50
CBOT rice $15.44 $0.02 +0.10% $15.48 35
WTI crude $92.59 -$0.52 -0.56% $89.07 29
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.309 $0.080 +6.48% +6.49%
USD/AUD 1.028 -0.027 -2.55% -2.71%
Most active contracts
Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight
RSI 14, exponential
(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Joseph Radford)
* Wheat little changed, near lowest since June
* Snowfall across U.S. Plains boosts winter wheat crop
* Argentina soy harvest seen smaller at 48 mln tonnes
By Naveen Thukral
SINGAPORE, Feb 26 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat was little changed on Tuesday, languishing near its lowest since June due to improved crop weather across the U.S. grain belt, while corn edged higher for a second straight session.
Soybeans ticked up, recouping ground from two sessions of losses, on a forecast of a smaller crop in Argentina, although the rapidly advancing harvest of Brazil's record soy crop capped gains.
Recent storms helped improve wheat conditions across the U.S. Plains, but more moisture was needed to ensure healthy development when the crop breaks dormancy this spring.
In Kansas, the largest producer of hard red winter wheat, the crop was rated 23 percent good to excellent as of Feb. 24, up from 20 percent a month ago, according to a report issued on Monday by the state field office of the U.S. Agriculture Department's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).
A potent winter storm bore down on the U.S. southern Plains on Monday, dumping more than a foot of snow and creating blizzard conditions in Oklahoma, Texas and parts of Kansas still digging out from a winter storm last week.
"We have seen significant snowfalls across the U.S. and it is allaying any moisture concerns as the crop comes out of dormancy," said Brett Cooper, a senior markets manager at INTL FCStone Australia.
Chicago Board of Trade March wheat had gained a quarter of a cent to $7.05-1/2 a bushel by 0212 GMT, after touching an 8-month low of $6.98 a bushel on Monday.
The soybean market was underpinned as Argentina's Rosario grains exchange lowered its forecast for the nation's soybean crop to 48 million tonnes, down almost 10 percent from a month ago as a long dry spell eroded yields.
Scant rainfall from early January until the middle of last week pushed global grains prices higher on supply concerns and spurred analysts to trim their production estimates. Many crops are passing through yield-defining growth stages.
But Rains in the last few days in Argentina's main crop belt arrived just in time to avert serious damage to soy and corn crops in the world's No. 3 exporter.
"Argentina's grains exchange lowered its bean crop to 48 million tonnes which is making some people think that the USDA might revise down its numbers for South American soybean output," said Cooper.
BRAZIL HARVEST
CBOT March soybeans rose 0.4 percent to $14.56-1/2 a bushel and March corn also added 0.4 percent to $6.96-1/4 a bushel.
Brazil's 2013/14 soybean harvest accelerated over the past week as weather over the grain belt turned drier and allowed producers to make progress in collecting what is expected to be a record crop.
As of Feb. 22, producers had harvested 28 percent of Brazil's planted soybean area, up from 19 percent a week earlier but slightly down from the 29 percent harvested by this time last year when drought reduced the crop size, local grain crop analysts Celeres said on Monday.
Commodity funds sold a net 5,000 CBOT soybean contracts on Monday, trade sources said. They sold 3,000 wheat and bought 3,000 corn contracts.
Prices at 0212 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct chg MA 30 RSI
CBOT wheat 705.50 0.25 +0.04% 867.93 21
CBOT corn 696.25 2.75 +0.40% 765.12 40
CBOT soy 1456.50 5.25 +0.36% 1579.09 50
CBOT rice $15.44 $0.02 +0.10% $15.48 35
WTI crude $92.59 -$0.52 -0.56% $89.07 29
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.309 $0.080 +6.48% +6.49%
USD/AUD 1.028 -0.027 -2.55% -2.71%
Most active contracts
Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight
RSI 14, exponential
(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Joseph Radford)
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