* Ample supplies weighing on wheat as demand wanes
* Corn, soy firm despite expectations for record crops (Adds U.S. trading, analyst comment, changes dateline from PARIS/SINGAPORE)
By Mark Weinraub
CHICAGO, Oct 9 (Reuters) – U.S. wheat futures fell 2.7 percent from four-week highs on Thursday, with investors focusing on poor demand and plentiful global stocks ahead of a key government report, traders said.
Corn and soybeans firmed, with corn on track for its seventh straight day of gains. Both commodities received support from harvest delays in eastern areas of the U.S. Midwest that delayed the long-awaited replenishment of supplies at processors and elevators.
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The setback in wheat followed six straight days of gains that added 6.3 percent to the benchmark Chicago Board of Trade December soft red winter wheat contract.
“The U.S. Agriculture Department (on Friday) is going to remind us of a world that is flush with wheat,” said Tom Fritz, a partner with EFG Group in Chicago. “We have seen the short covering – it came and it went.”
The monthly supply and demand report was expected to show that 2014/15 U.S. ending stocks of wheat would be 704 million bushels, up 6 million bushels from the government’s estimate of a month ago and well above the 590 million bushels left over at the end of the 2013/14 crop year. Global wheat end stocks were estimated to come in at a robust 196.38 million tonnes.
CBOT December soft red winter wheat was down 13-3/4 cents at $4.94 a bushel. Prices fell through technical support at the 30-day moving average.
USDA said on Thursday morning that weekly export sales of wheat were just 372,400 tonnes, below the range of trade estimates for 400,000 to 600,000 tonnes.
CBOT December corn was up 2-1/4 cents at $3.45-1/2 a bushel while November soybeans gained 5-3/4 cents to $9.40-3/4 a bushel.
“Beans are recovering some recent losses as rains throw a wrench into the Midwest harvest while key Brazilian soy areas have none of that precipitation on tap,” Matt Zeller, director of market information for INTL FCStone, said in a note to clients.
Gains in soybeans and corn were kept in check by expectations that USDA will boost its U.S. production outlook for both crops.
Analysts polled by Reuters forecast the USDA on Friday will estimate this year’s U.S. corn crop at a record 14.506 billion bushels. Soybean production was seen at 3.976 billion bushels, which also would be a record. The USDA report is expected to be released at 1600 GMT on Friday. Name
Last
Pct Change Net Change Pvs Close CORN DEC4
345.5
0.66
2.25
343.25 SOYBEANS NOV4
940.75
0.61
5.75
935 SOY MEAL OCT4
333.1
1
3.3
329.8 SOYBEAN OIL OCT4
32.92
0.12
0.04
32.88 WHEAT SRW DEC4
493.75
-2.76
-14
507.75 ROUGH RICE NOV4
12.59
-0.28
-0.035
12.625 M.WHEAT EUR JAN5 160.75
-1.98
-3.25
164 LIGHT CRUDE NOV4
86.3
-1.16
-1.01
87.31 DJ INDU AVERAGE 16797.7
-1.16
-196.48 16994.22
4
GOLD
1223.9 #N/A
2.7
1221.2 BALTIC EXCH DRY
974
-1.72
-17
991 US DOLLAR INDEX
85.447
0.18
0.15
85.297 In U.S. cents, benchmark contracts, except EU wheat (euros) and soymeal (dollars). CBOT wheat, corn and soybeans per bushel, rice per hundredweight, soymeal per ton and soyoil per lb. (Additional reporting by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; editing by Matthew Lewis)
