Soybeans rise as drought threaten Argentine crop; wheat dips

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SINGAPORE — Chicago soybean futures rose on Wednesday, recouping some of last session’s losses, as concerns over a lack of rains in top supplier Argentina supported prices.

Corn also ticked higher, while wheat prices eased.

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FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) added 0.5% to $14.99-1/2 a bushel, as of 0115 GMT, corn rose quarter of a cent to $6.70-3/4 a bushel and wheat slid 0.3% to $7.73-1/4 a bushel.

* The focus is on Argentina, the world’s largest exporter of soyoil and soymeal, after better-than-expected rains benefited dry areas there over the weekend, analysts said.

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* However, the weather in the South American nation is expected to turn drier again. Crop stress in northern and eastern Argentina will rebuild to about 60% of the soybean and corn areas from just under half, Commodity Weather Group said.

* The Buenos Aires grains exchange said last week that 500,000 hectares of soybeans may go unplanted if further rain prevents the progress of field work.

* In the wheat market, winter storm damage to U.S. crops raised worries over 2023 supplies.

* Sovecon, a leading Black Sea agricultural markets research firm, increased its 2022/23 Russian wheat export forecast by 0.2 million tonnes to 44.1 million tonnes on Friday.

* The consultancy expects record or near-record monthly export volumes in the second half of the July-June season with shipments supported by relatively high global prices, the weakening of the rouble, and the pressure of record stocks on the domestic market.

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* In other news, weekly U.S. grain export inspections were disappointing, traders said.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported inspections in the week ended Dec. 29 were 85,672 tonnes for wheat; 667,010 tonnes for corn; and 1.46 million tonnes for soybeans.

* Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected 250,000 tonnes to 450,000 tonnes for wheat; 650,000 tonnes to 900,000 tonnes for corn; and 1.5 million to 1.865 million tonnes for soybeans.

* Large speculators raised their net long position in Chicago Board of Trade corn futures in the week to Dec. 27, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

* The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and raised their net long position in soybeans.

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MARKET NEWS

* The dollar jumped on Tuesday as oil prices sank, while U.S. stocks bucked a global equities rally in a macro-packed week that could offer a steer on when and where U.S. interest rates might peak.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) 0745 France CPI (EU Norm) Prelim YY Dec 0850 France S&P Global Serv, Comp PMIs Dec 0855 Germany S&P Global Serv PMI Dec 0855 Germany S&P Global Comp Final PMI Dec 0900 EU S&P Global Serv, Comp Final PMIs Dec 1500 US ISM Manufacturing PMI Dec 1900 US Federal Open Market Committee issues minutes from its meeting of December 13-14, 2022 (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; editing by Uttaresh.V)