Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures fell, weighed down by a firm dollar that dampens investors’ enthusiasm for risky assets such as commodities, traders said.
The declines were limited as the benchmark CBOT December wheat contract found support near its 100-day moving average of $8.62.
For the week, CBOT December wheat rose 0.4 per cent. Hard red winter wheat futures at the Kansas City Board of Trade eked out small gains due to tightening supplies of high protein wheat around the globe. MGEX spring wheat futures were unchanged. The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Friday morning that weekly export sales of wheat were 362,900 tonnes, near the low end of forecasts for 350,000 to 500,000 tonnes.
Lebanon tendered to buy 50,000 tonnes of milling wheat for shipment in November and December, European traders said.
Russian wheat export prices may remain competitive with rivals through next week, supported by possible demand from Egypt, a SovEcon analyst said
Dry weather an increasing problem in U.S. Plains hard red winter wheat region, Commodity Weather Group meteorologist Joel Widenor said. More than one-third of the crop will likely enter winter poorly established due to a lack of rain.
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Corn
Chicago Board of Trade corn futures were lower on technical selling, a firm dollar and a broad-based commodities selloff after the release of a strong payrolls data report, traders said.
Employers added 171,000 people to their payrolls last month, the Labor Department said on Friday. The government also said 84,000 more jobs were created in August and September than initially estimated.
Minimal rainfall is likely today through next week in the U.S. Midwest, which will allow a rapid windup harvesting the 2012 corn and soybean crops, an agricultural meteorologist said on Friday.
"Showers will begin to spread across the Midwest and Delta by next weekend but drier weather in the meantime will aid late fieldwork," said Commodity Weather Group meteorologist Joel Widenor.
USDA said export sales of U.S. corn last week totaled 167,900 tonnes, within estimates for 100,000 to 350,000 tonnes.
Commodity brokerage INTL FCStone on Thursday raised its forecast for U.S. 2012 corn production to 10.881 billion bushels, above its previous estimate of 10.824 billion and above USDA’s current estimate for 10.706 billion.
Spot basis bids for corn fell sharply at river terminals around the U.S. Midwest on Friday, pulled down by rising barge freight costs as dealers typically pay less for the commodities when it costs more to ship them.
December broke below support at its 100-day moving average of $7.45-1/2, which is now a key resistance level and major support is at the 200-day moving average of 6.45-3/4.
Soybeans
Soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 2, halting a three-day rally, pressured by rising estimates of the U.S. 2012 soy harvest and strength in the dollar, traders said.
Informa Economics raised its estimate of the U.S. 2012 soybean crop to 2.925 billion bushels, from 2.86 billion previously, and raised its soy yield estimate to 38.6 bushels per acre, from 37.8 last month.
Commodity brokerage INTL FCStone late Thursday pegged the U.S. soy harvest at 2.959 billion bushels, up from 2.849 billion last month. The firm raised its soy yield estimate to 39.1 bushels per acre, up from 38.2 previously.
Both firms’ estimates came in above USDA’s October figures for a 2.86 billion-bushel soy crop with a yield of 37.8 bushels per acre. USDA is set to release updated estimates on Nov. 9.
Additional pressure stemmed from strength in the U.S. dollar, which makes U.S. commodities less competitive on the global market. The dollar firmed after data showed the U.S. economy created more jobs than expected last month.
For the week, spot CBOT soybeans fell 2.2 per cent while soymeal fell 1.6 per cent and soyoil fell 3.3 per cent on the week.
USDA reported export sales of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 760,600 tonnes (741,200 for 2012/13), above trade expectations for 550,000 to 700,000 tonnes. USDA reported weekly export sales of U.S. soymeal at 73,200 tonnes, below trade estimates for 125,000 to 225,000 tonnes.
Soyoil export sales came in at 28,500 tonnes, with a range of expectations for 15,000 to 30,000.
Malaysian palm oil futures fell to a two-week low as investors remained cautious on market expectations of record high stocks in October. CBOT reported 605 deliveries against November soybean futures, with JP Morgan customer accounts stopping 459 lots.
