IKAR in Mass and Industry Media

Wheat Falls to Three-Week Low as Supplies From Russia, EU Rise

Bloomberg

Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat fell to the lowest price in almost three weeks on speculation that increasing supplies from Russia and Europe will reduce demand for grain from the U.S., the world's largest exporter.

Russia, which lifted a ban on exports July 1, may ship a record 3.3 million metric tons of grain in September, the Moscow-based Institute for Agricultural Market Studies said. Limits on deliveries by rail are ending at Russia's main export hub in the southern port of Novorossiysk. Ukraine said grain output may be as much as 33 percent larger than last year, and France yesterday boosted its forecast for wheat production.

U.S. "export business hasn't been that great ever since Russia opened their ports," Tom Leffler, the owner of Leffler Commodities LLC in Augusta, Kansas, said in a telephone interview.

"Wheat is holding up here at lofty areas, along with corn and beans. As long as we're overpriced in the world market, that will definitely have an effect" on sales abroad, he said.

Wheat futures for December delivery fell 13.5 cents, or 1.8 percent, to settle at $7.38 a bushel at 1:15 p.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Earlier, the price touched $7.335, the lowest for a most-active contract since Aug. 19. The grain has climbed 20 percent since the end of June.

European Union soft wheat-export commitments rose to 415,000 tons in the week ended Sept. 6, the highest in more than five months, the bloc reported today.

India, the second-biggest grower, will lift a four-year ban on exports, allowing shipments of 2 million tons, Food Minister K.V. Thomas said today.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will release its estimate for global inventories on Sept. 12. Thirteen analysts in a Bloomberg News survey projected reserves of 187.73 million tons, on average. That would mark a 0.6 percent drop from August.

Wheat is the fourth-largest U.S. crop, valued at $13 billion in 2010, behind corn, soybeans and hay, government data show. China is the top grower.

28.09.11

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