By Tom Polansek
CHICAGO, Nov 3 (Reuters) – Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures slid on profit-taking on Wednesday, traders said, after prices climbed this week to their highest level since 2012 on tightening world supplies and robust demand.
Losses also hit the corn market, which retreated after rising on Tuesday to its highest price since Aug. 12.
Wheat futures had recently surged on a flurry of export deals to buyers including Saudi Arabia and Egypt and on concerns about poor spring wheat harvests. The gains had helped to support the neighboring corn market, as both grains are used for animal feed.
“The corn market has become overbought,” said Tomm Pfitzenmaier, analyst for Summit Commodity Brokerage in Iowa.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 was down 8 cents at $7.83-1/2 a bushel by 10:45 a.m. CDT (1545 GMT), after hitting a December 2012 high of $8.07 a bushel on Tuesday.
Corn Cv1 lost 8-1/4 cents to $5.64-3/4 a bushel, and soybeans Sv1 were down 14 cents at $12.30 a bushel.
The wheat market may resume its rally after taking a breather from price gains, some traders said.
“So long as there are no signs of demand being slowed by the elevated price level, we believe that further highs are on the cards,” Commerzbank said in a note.
Traders are waiting for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue its monthly World Agriculture Supply and Demand (WASDE) estimates on Nov. 9.
Expectations of a big U.S. crop estimate in the report added pressure to CBOT soybeans, traders said.
“The corn market has had a nice runup, but we would be cautious about pushing the long side too much at these price levels at least until the WASDE numbers are behind us,” Pfitzenmaier said.
(Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago, Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Jan Harvey, William Maclean)
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