In Commodity News 09/06/2015
Chicago wheat futures edged higher on Monday, extending a more than 8 percent rally scored last week, amid worries over potentially lower crop yields in the U.S. Plains.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Wheat for July delivery on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 0.3 percent at $5.18-3/4 a bushel by 0034 GMT. The contract gained 8.4 percent last week, its largest such increase since mid-November.
* Apart from potential damage to crops from heavy rains in the southern U.S. Plains, investors were also looking at dry conditions in Western Europe and parts of Russia, and a combination of dryness and frost in Canada despite ample global supplies.
* A fungal disease known as head scab has emerged in winter wheat crop in parts of Kansas, the biggest U.S. producer of the grain, a crop expert said. Wheat is most vulnerable to scab when wet conditions are present during flowering, the crop’s reproductive phase. That phase occurred in Kansas in May, when most of the state recorded above-normal precipitation. Harvest should begin in the state later this month.
* Traders are eyeing the next monthly crop supply and demand report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday for updates on U.S. production and ending stocks.
* But favourable spring weather and a larger sowing area will help Ukraine and Russia, two major Black Sea wheat producers, increase harvests this year, analysts and traders said.
* CBOT corn rose 0.6 percent to $3.62-3/4 per bushel while soybeans were up 0.1 percent at $9.39.
Markets news
* The dollar traded near 13-year highs against the yen after strong U.S. employment data bolstered expectations for an interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve before year-end.
* Asian shares slipped ahead of Chinese trade data forecast to show that external and internal demand to have remained fairly weak last month.
