GRAINS-Soybeans steady as South America rain chances assessed

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GRAINS-Soybeans steady as South America rain chances assessed

By Gus Trompiz and Naveen Thukral

PARIS/SINGAPORE, Jan 14 (Reuters)Chicago soybean futures were little changed on Friday, steadying after touching a 10-day low as the market weighed prospects for rain relief in dry South American growing belts.

Corn inched up after also touching a 10-day low as traders assessed to what extent expected showers could benefit parched crops in southern Brazil and Argentina.

Chicago wheat ease further, pressured by a three-month low for Paris futures, as large wheat crops in South America and Australia increased competition in export markets.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 was up 0.1% at $13.78 a bushel by 1300 GMT.

It earlier fell to a 10-day low at $13.63-3/4 before steadying.

“We were looking at a bigger drop in South American soybean production but with the recent weather outlook it might not be as bad as expected earlier,” said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at agriculture brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney.

Weather forecasts show parched areas of Argentina, the world’s top exporter of processed soy and No. 2 producer of corn, may receive significant rainfall from late this week.

However, analysts are cautious about the benefit of any rain in Argentina after a heatwave exacerbated dryness linked to the La Nina climate pattern.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a crop report on Wednesday reduced its soybean and corn production forecasts for Brazil and Argentina, although by less than some private analysts.

CBOT corn Cv1 was up 0.4% at $5.89-3/4 a bushel. It earlier equalled Thursday’s 10-day low of $5.85-1/4 before steadying.

CBOT wheat Wv1 was down 0.4% at $7.44, near an earlier one-week low, while March wheat BL2H2 on Paris-based Euronext was down 0.6% at 264.25 euros ($307.20) a tonne after earlier hitting a new three-month low.

The International Grains Council on Thursday raised its forecast for 2021/22 global wheat production, partly driven by an improved outlook in Australia.

Talk that Algeria would again overlook French supplies in its latest wheat import tender weighed on the European market.

Algeria’s state grains agency OAIC made an initial purchase of wheat in the tender on Friday that was expected to be sourced from South America and the Black Sea region, traders said in early assessments.

Prices at 1300 GMT

Last

Change

Pct Move

End 2021

Ytd Pct Move

CBOT wheat Wv1

744.00

-2.75

-0.37

770.75

-3.47

CBOT corn Cv1

589.75

2.25

0.38

593.25

-0.59

CBOT soy Sv1

1378.00

0.75

0.05

1339.25

2.89

Paris wheat BL2c1

264.25

-1.50

-0.56

278.50

-5.12

Paris maize EMAc1

237.75

-1.25

-0.52

226.00

5.20

Paris rape COMc1

747.50

7.25

0.98

754.00

-0.86

WTI crude oil CLc1

82.50

0.38

0.46

75.21

9.69

Euro/dlr EUR=

1.14

0.00

-0.07

1.1368

0.68

Most active contracts – Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel, Paris futures in euros per tonne

(Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Jason Neely)

(([email protected]; +33 1 49 49 52 18; Reuters Messaging: [email protected]))

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

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