IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

GRAINS-Wheat comes off 10-yr low on bargain-buying; corn, soy struggle

Reuters

* Chicago wheat gains for 1st time in seven sessions
* Wheat prices may have hit bottom around $4 a bushel
* Corn trades near two-year low as U.S. harvest looms

SINGAPORE, Aug 30 U.S. wheat futures rose for the first time in seven days on Tuesday, underpinned by bargain-buying after the market tumbled to a 10-year low in the previous session.

Corn hovered near Monday's two-year low, under pressure from the harvest of an expected record U.S. crop. Soybeans slid for a sixth session in a row.

Chicago Board of Trade most-active wheat contract gained 0.4 percent to $3.98-3/4 a bushel by 0229 GMT, after hitting its lowest since 2006 at $3.95-1/4 a bushel on Monday.

Corn gained a quarter of a cent to trade at $3.21 a bushel, not far off of last session's low of $3.20 a bushel, its weakest since 2014. Soybeans gave up quarter of a cent at $9.64 a bushel.

"I don't think wheat needs to be below $4 a bushel. Global supply and demand fundamentals haven't changed in the last one week but we have seen a decline of more than 25 cents in prices," said Ole Houe, an analyst with brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney.

"From an Australian perspective, we won't engage growers at these levels."

Wheat faced renewed pressure after top importer Egypt reinstated a ban on wheat shipments containing even the slightest amount of a common grain fungus, ergot. The move baffled traders who had returned to the Egyptian market last month when the ban was lifted, and could boost already ample global supplies that have kept a lid on prices.

Russian wheat export prices fell slightly last week as a weakening rouble made Russian grains more competitive.

Black Sea prices for September deliveries of Russian wheat with 12.5 percent protein content were $172 a tonne on a free-on-board basis at the end of last week, down $1 from a week earlier, Russian agricultural consultancy IKAR said.

For corn, looming supply from an expected all-time high U.S. crop is weighing on prices.

The U.S Department of Agriculture rated 75 percent of the U.S. corn crop in good-to-excellent condition, unchanged from a week earlier. The soybean crop was rated 73 percent as good-to-excellent, up from 72 percent the previous week.

Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT corn, wheat and soybean futures on Monday. Trader estimates of net fund selling in corn ranged from 7,000 to 15,000 contracts, in wheat from 6,000 to 7,500 contracts, and in soybeans from zero to 3,000 contracts.

Grains prices at 0229 GMT

         Contract      Last   Change  Pct chg  Two-day chg   MA 30  RSI
         CBOT wheat  398.75     1.75   +0.44%       -2.15%  432.18   15
         CBOT corn   321.00     0.25   +0.08%       -1.23%  336.00   21
         CBOT soy    964.00    -0.25   -0.03%       -0.34%  986.53   27
         CBOT rice     9.73    $0.02   +0.21%       -2.02%   $9.95   30
         WTI crude    47.09    $0.11   +0.23%       -1.15%  $44.37   55
         Currencies                                                    
         Euro/dlr    $1.117  -$0.002   -0.15%       -0.21%             
         USD/AUD     0.7568    0.000   +0.01%       +0.07%             

Most active contracts
Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel.
Rice: USD per hundredweight
RSI 14, exponential

30.08.16

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