Strong export sales data boosts wheat, corn and soy futures
Recovery also fuelled by short covering and technical trading
(Updates for market open, changes dateline from PARIS/CANBERRA to CHICAGO)
CHICAGO, Aug 7 (Reuters) – Chicago Board of Trade wheat rebounded on Thursday after hitting a five-year low on Wednesday, and corn recovered from previous contract lows as chart support and signs of new export demand countered the pressure of ample supplies, traders said.
Soybeans also edged up from a four-month trough as low prices stirred demand for the oilseed.
Abundant supply expected from Northern Hemisphere wheat harvests and autumn corn and soybean harvests in the United States drove a sell-off the previous day.
The most active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 10-1/2 cents to $5.19 as of 10:30 a.m. CT (1530 GMT). The benchmark had fallen to its lowest since August 2020 on Wednesday at $5.04 but held above the $5 floor.
“We’re getting a corrective bounce with a boost from strong export numbers, which are a function of cheaper prices,” Terry Linn, a broker at Linn & Associates, said.
CBOT December corn was up 5 cents to $4.06-1/4 per bushel, after most corn contracts hit lifetime lows the previous day.
Weekly U.S. export sales, reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday, showed wheat, corn and soybean volumes above market estimates.
That bolstered expectations that the recent price drop, coupled with weakness in the dollar, has made U.S. crops attractive for export.
The U.S. is expected to produce bumper corn and soy harvests later in the year. Analysts polled by Reuters think the U.S. Department of Agriculture will raise its estimates in a monthly report due on August 12.
CBOT soybeans were last up 7-1/4 cents to $9.91-1/2 a bushel to recover from their lowest level since April struck a day earlier.
Fund short covering and an uptick in demand helped fuel price recovery, traders and analysts said.
“U.S. soybeans are the cheapest in the world clear out through the fall and non-Chinese buyers are scooping them up,” Linn said.
(Reporting by Heather Schlitz in Chicago. Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Janane Venkatraman, Barbara Lewis and Ed Osmond)
