Wheat Falls on Lower Black Sea Prices
September 25 2020 - 03:44PM
Dow Jones News
By Kirk Maltais
--Wheat for December delivery fell 1% to $5.44 1/4 a bushel on
the Chicago Board of Trade Friday, reacting to indications of lower
prices in Russia and Ukraine.
--Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.3% to $10.02 1/2 a
bushel.
--Corn for December delivery rose 0.5% to $3.65 1/4 a
bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Russian Connection: Falling prices for Eastern European and
Russian wheat put pressure on U.S. wheat futures all week, and
continued on Friday, "on more aggressive Ukrainian farmer selling
and an easing tone in Black Sea prices," said Charlie Sernatinger
of ED&F Man Capital. Earlier this week, Egypt's state grain
buyer bought 405,000 metric tons of Russian wheat at an
international tender, with the cheapest cargo being at $255.90 per
ton--down from previous tenders.
WASDE Support: Soybean futures, which started lower Friday,
turned higher mid-day, amid expectations that next month's WASDE
report from the USDA will show lower U.S. soybean production. Yet
predictions indicate that "Chinese demand remains strong," says
Arlan Suderman of StoneX.
INSIGHTS
Press Pause: After announcing flash sales of export grains to
China most days this month, the USDA has not announced a new sale
to China for the second consecutive day--instead announcing that
100,000 metric tons of soybean meal had been sold to unknown
destinations. Major flash sales coming to a stop, even only
temporarily, was seen as a weight on CBOT grain futures Friday, and
may pull them down further if the pause in flash sales to China
continues.
Destocking: Stockpiles of U.S. corn are expected to be much
lower than estimates made in June 2020, with predictions provided
to The Wall Street Journal pegging corn stocks at 2.24 billion
bushels--well down from 5.22 billion bushels reported by the USDA
in its last quarterly stocks report. Soybean stocks are also
expected to fall, to 575 million bushels from 1.39 billion bushels
projected in June. Wheat stocks are expected to rise, however--to
2.16 billion bushels from 1.04 billion bushels in June.
AHEAD:
--The USDA releases its weekly grain export inspections data at
11 a.m. ET Monday.
--The USDA releases its weekly crop progress report for the
2020/21 crop at 4 p.m. ET Monday.
--The EIA releases its weekly update on ethanol production and
inventories at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.
--The USDA releases its quarterly grain stocks report at noon ET
Wednesday.
--The USDA releases its monthly agricultural prices report at 3
p.m. ET Wednesday.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
September 25, 2020 15:29 ET (19:29 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.