Soybeans face headwinds from large Brazilian supply, wheat rises
SINGAPORE: Chicago soybean futures were largely unchanged on Wednesday, holding near last session's one-week low, with abundant South American supplies and uncertainty over the impact of a trade war on U.S. agricultural sales keeping a lid on the market.
Corn was unmoved, while wheat prices edged higher.
"Soybean supplies are pretty comfortable if you look at Brazilian crop which is entering the market," said one trader in Singapore. "But going forward, the market will take direction from U.S. planting."
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was flat at $10.11-1/4 a bushel, as of 0312 GMT. Wheat added 0.6% to $5.60-1/4 a bushel and corn was unchanged at $4.70-1/4 a bushel.
Soybeans are under pressure from hefty South American supplies hitting the global market.
Brazil's soybean exports are expected to reach 15.45 million metric tons in March, up more than 4% compared with last week's forecast, as the country continues to harvest its massive new crop, according to data from the grain exporters lobby Anec.
Corn prices were weighed down on Tuesday after the U.S. government left domestic corn inventories unchanged in a monthly supply-and-demand report - despite strong export sales and trade tensions with top buyer Mexico.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture pegged 2024-25 U.S. corn stocks at 1.54 billion bushels and exports at 2.45 billion bushels, both unchanged from February. Analysts had expected stocks to decline to 1.516 billion bushels due to robust demand, according to a Reuters poll.
Traders and farmers are keeping a close eye on exports amid U.S. tariff disputes, with major buyers Mexico, Canada and China threatening sales of U.S. agricultural goods.
Commodity funds were net sellers of Chicago Board of Trade corn, soybean, wheat and soymeal futures contracts on Tuesday, and net buyers of soyoil futures, traders said. (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Varun H K)
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