In Commodity News 31/07/2015
Chicago soybeans gained more ground on Thursday, rising 2.4 percent in three consecutive sessions on concerns over a smaller planted area and ahead of the crop’s key phase of development.
Corn edged higher after dropping 1.9 percent on Wednesday as forecasts of favourable weather boosted hopes of near record yields, while wheat rose, recouping some of last session’s deep losses.
FUNDAMENTALS
* With soybean yields largely determined in August and concerns about lower planted area in the U.S. Midwest, there is still uncertainty about the crop size.
* Bull-spreading, in which traders buy the nearby month and sell deferred contracts, and tight cash markets also underpinned Chicago Board of Trade front-month soybeans.
* Forecasts for scattered showers in the U.S. grain belt over the next 10 days are seen boosting corn and soybean crops.
* Still, U.S. soybean prices could come under pressure as South America’s exports are on track to dominate sales to top buyer China for a record period this year.
* This is threatening to displace U.S. exports during what is traditionally the peak sales time for rival North American shipments.
* Commodity funds sold a net 12,000 CBOT corn contracts on Wednesday, trade sources said. The funds were even in soybeans and sold a net 8,000 wheat contracts.
* Spring wheat has good yield potential in west-central North Dakota, aided by early planting, scouts on one leg of an annual crop tour said on Wednesday.
* Crop scouts on the Wheat Quality Council’s tour travelling one route in west-central North Dakota made six stops, mostly in McLean County, and projected an average yield of 65.1 bushels per acre (bpa), well above the tour’s year-ago average for the same route near 48.5 bpa.
MARKET NEWS
* The dollar held steady in cautious trade on Thursday, ahead of U.S. gross domestic product data that could reinforce or dent expectations that the Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates as early as September.
* U.S. crude futures rose towards $49 a barrel in early Asian trade on Thursday after a larger than expected draw in U.S. crude inventories indicated buoyant demand for oil, although a strengthening dollar capped price gains.
