Chicago | Reuters—Chicago wheat futures lost ground on Wednesday, with prices weighed down by large global harvests, favorable weather in growing areas, and a strong U.S. dollar, analysts said.
Corn futures followed wheat down. Soybeans ticked slightly lower, underpinned by growing optimism about U.S.-China trade negotiations, but a large crop was still expected.
The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade, December corn CZ25, settled down 3-1/2 cents to $4.06 a bushel, December wheat WZ25 lost 7-1/2 cents to $5.24-1/4 a bushel, and November soybeans SX25 were down 2 cents at $10.47-1/2 a bushel.
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Saskatchewan harvest lags behind
At 12 per cent complete as of Aug. 25, harvest progress in Saskatchewan was well behind the five-year average of 25 per cent finished, the provincial agriculture department reported. Rain and thunderstorms hampered harvesting in some areas of Saskatchewan.
K.C. winter wheat KWv1 fell to contract lows.
Wheat is falling amid forecasts for rainfall in winter wheat-growing areas in the coming days. “That will go a long way with restoring soil moisture and preparing winter wheat seed beds,” said Brian Hoops, president of Midwest Market Solutions.
Meanwhile, high corn prices have dampened export demand, according to Terry Linn of Linn & Associates.
U.S. farmers are on track to harvest the nation’s biggest corn crop in history this autumn, as well as a bumper soybean crop.
However, the soybean market is shifting its focus to probable U.S.-China talks.
Senior Chinese trade negotiator Li Chenggang is expected to travel to Washington this week to meet U.S. officials, a United States government spokesperson said, with the two superpowers looking to chart a path beyond their current tariff truce.
“These yet-to-be-determined supply and demand outcomes each have the potential to sway our domestic carryout from an extremely bearish to an extremely bullish end result,” said Linn.
—Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral.
