On Friday, October 06, 2023, wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell. At the end of the trading day, December quotations of soft winter wheat on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange CBOT fell to $208.79 per ton, December futures of hard winter wheat KCBT in Kansas City - to $247.56 per ton, December futures of hard spring wheat MGEX fell to $264, 73 per ton.
Chicago soybean and corn futures fell on Friday due to profit-taking after the previous day's rally and favorable weather forecast for the weekend harvest. Wheat futures also fell as concerns over grain supplies across the Black Sea eased.
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) soybean futures for December fell 1.2% to close at $12.66 a bushel.
The USDA will release an update on the status of the corn and soybean crops on Tuesday, October 10, rather than on Monday due to the US federal holiday of Columbus Day.
Last week's report showed that the soybean harvest was 23% complete, two points below the average analyst forecast.
December CBOT corn prices fell 1.1% to $4.92 a bushel after hitting $4.99, their highest level in more than a month.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) data released Friday showed speculators still held a huge net short position in corn futures, but reduced that position for the week ended October 3.
Accelerating U.S. harvests and large exports from Brazil are weighing on corn and soybean prices.
December CBOT soft red winter wheat fell 10 cents to settle at $5.68-1/4 a bushel.
Chicago wheat prices fell on Friday, consolidating after a rally driven by renewed concerns about war risks to Black Sea trade, as investors turned their attention to US employment data.
However, doubts over Ukraine's ability to boost maritime exports underscore expectations that the wheat market has bottomed out after last week's three-year low. Moreover, Ukraine's agriculture minister said the country is likely to plant less winter wheat than originally expected for the 2024 harvest due to drought. “Reduced supplies of wheat from Ukraine are therefore likely to continue to support prices,” Commerzbank said in a statement.
Drought in Argentina and Australia has also raised the possibility of a decline in wheat exports later this season.
At the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) on Friday, contracts for delivery in November and December:
wheat (DCBR 2023) - 208.79 dollars/t (20810 rubles/t) - minus 1.73%;
corn (DKB 2023) - 193.70 dollars/t (19310 rubles/t) - minus 1.11%;
soybeans (NBR 2023) - 465.17 dollars/t (46,370 rubles/t) - minus 1.15%;
rice November (November 2023) - 786.13 dollars/t (78,360 rubles/t) - plus 2.36%;
rapeseed (ICE, Nov. 2023) - 711.20 cad/t (51,580 rub./t) - unchanged.
According to monitoring data from FranceAgriMer, in France, as of October 2, corn was threshed on 27% of the planned area (+15% per week), which is inferior to last year's result (64%) and the average level of the last 5 years (34%). The condition of corn crops improved over the week and the share in good and excellent condition increased to 83% (+1%). At the beginning of October last year, this figure was 42%.
Also, French farmers began sowing winter crops for the 2024 harvest; as of October 1, 2% of the planned area was sown with winter soft wheat (2% a year earlier; 4% over the last 5 years).
The French grain market declined on Friday. At the end of the trading day, December quotes for milling wheat on the Parisian MATIF exchange dropped to €234.75 per ton (in dollar terms they rose to $247.61). November futures November corn quotes - up to €204.75 per ton (in dollar equivalent they rose to $215.97).
On the Paris Exchange (MATIF) on Friday, quotes for November and December contracts at the closing of trading were:
flour milling wheat (DCBR 2023) - 247.61 dollars/t (24,680 rubles/t) - plus 0.22%;
corn (NBR 2023) - $215.97/t (RUB 21,530/t) - plus 0.31%;
sunflower (Oct. on the SAFEX exchange - 8950.00 zar./t (45850 rub./t) minus 0.33%;
sunflower oil (Oct. Rotterdam, bulk FOB) - 910.00 USD/t (90,710 RUB/t) minus 2.15%.
For reference, exchange rates as of 10/06/2023:
99.6762 rub. = US dollar
104.7877 rub. = Euro
RUB 72.5287 = Canadian dollar
RUB 51.2334 = 10 South African rand
