Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures rose on Friday, with strong buying interest by importers keeping prices near the multi-year highs hit earlier this week.
Corn and soybean futures fell but the market was underpinned by strength in the cash market as grain dealers tried to entice U.S. farmers to book sales instead of putting newly harvested crops in storage, traders said.
“You have got the American farmer holding on to a lot of grain,” said Mark Gold, managing partner at Top Third Ag Marketing. “They think prices are going to go up through harvest and into the spring.”
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Chicago Board of Trade March soft red winter wheat settled up 3-1/2 cents at $8.34-1/4 a bushel (all figures US$).
Benchmark Euronext wheat rose on Friday, with front-month futures setting a record high for the market, as rumors of fresh sales of French wheat to China reinforced expectations of tight supplies in major exporting zones.
Two importer groups in the Philippines are tendering to purchase at least 130,000 tonnes of animal feed wheat, European traders.
The International Grains Council on Thursday cut its forecast for 2021-22 global wheat production, underscoring concern about dwindling stocks.
Heavy rains in Australia have added to supply worries by threatening to damage what has been forecast as a bumper harvest that would help replenish export availability.
“The wheat market therefore remains extremely tight, as the price performance reflects,” Commerzbank said in a note.
CBOT January soybeans were two cents lower at $12.63-1/4 a bushel and CBOT December corn was down 2-1/4 cents at $5.70-3/4 a bushel.
Strong demand from ethanol producers and soybean crushers supported futures prices.
“The trade recognizes a hot cash market and ridiculous end-user margins into the end of the calendar year,” StoneX chief commodities analyst Arlan Suderman said in a note to clients.
— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
