Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures fell on Wednesday, shrugging off weakness in the dollar as investors locked in profits following two days of sharp gains, traders said.
Soybean futures ended lower, too, pressured by commercial hedging after farmers booked sales on the cash market following a rally that pushed futures prices to their highest since May 21.
Chicago Board of Trade July soybeans settled 5-1/2 cents lower at $9.35-1/4 a bushel after trading as high as $9.45-1/2 during the session (all figures US$).
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As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
Huge global supplies contributed to the pressure hanging over soybeans. Informa Economics raised its estimate of the 2014-15 soy harvest from both Brazil and Argentina.
“Globally, we still have pretty big crops,” said Mark Schultz, chief analyst at Northstar Commodity Investment Co. “To go significantly higher is still going to be very, very difficult to do.”
Farmer selling also weighed on corn but the yellow grain managed to close steady to slightly firmer due to technical buying.
CBOT July corn was unchanged at $3.59 a bushel.
CBOT soft red winter wheat for July delivery ended down 1-3/4 cents at $5.10-3/4 a bushel. K.C. July hard red winter wheat dropped 6-1/4 cents to $5.29-1/4 a bushel and MGEX July spring wheat shed 8-1/4 cents to close at $5.63 a bushel.
Traders said that updated weather forecasts called for some rain in dry production areas of Russia, adding pressure to wheat futures amid prospects for increased competition on the export market.
Outlooks for rain in Canada keyed selling in MGEX prices.
— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters correspondent covering grain markets from Chicago. Additional reporting for Reuters by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Manolo Serapio Jr. in Singapore.
