SINGAPORE, Feb 27 (Reuters) – Chicago soybeans gained more ground on Tuesday, with the market supported by short-covering and expectations of lower output in Brazil, although ample world supplies kept a lid on prices.
Corn rose to its highest in almost two weeks, while wheat gained for a second straight session.
FUNDAMENTALS
* The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 was up 0.6% at $11.52 a bushel, as of 0124 GMT. Corn added 0.4% to $4.23 a bushel and wheat Wv1 gained 0.2% to $5.76 a bushel.
* Corn touched its highest since Feb. 15 at $4.24 a bushel earlier on Tuesday.
* Agricultural markets, including soybeans, corn and wheat, are being underpinned by bargain-buying and covering of shorts, after suffering losses since the beginning of the year amid plentiful supplies.
* Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn, wheat, soybean, soymeal and soyoil futures contracts on Monday, traders said. COMFUND/CBT
* Brazil’s 2023/24 soybean crop is expected to reach 147.7 million metric tons, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, lowering a January forecast of 150.1 million tons after yield losses in key producing areas due to adverse weather.
* Farmers in the world’s largest soybean producer and exporter have been grappling with dry and hot weather this season, which has led government agencies and private consultancies to trim their output forecasts.
* Still, ample supplies are likely to weigh on prices.
* In the United States, farmers must grapple with large corn inventories from last year’s harvest and with limited demand for feed from livestock producers, who reduced the nation’s cattle herd to its smallest level in seven decades.
* The country also faces stiff competition for global grain and soy export sales.
* Russian wheat export prices continued to fall last week, hitting their lowest since late 2020, but analysts still believe they need to be lower to be competitive.
* The price of 12.5% protein Russian wheat scheduled for free-on-board (FOB) delivery between late March and early April was $215 a metric ton, down $4 from the previous week, the IKAR agriculture consultancy reported.
MARKET NEWS
* A global equities index fell slightly on Monday after hitting record highs last week, as investors took a breather ahead of the next batch of U.S. economic data, while oil prices rallied on concerns about shipping disruptions. MKTS/GLOB
DATA/EVENTS (GMT)
1100 France Unemp Class-A SA Jan
1330 US Durable Goods Jan
1500 US Consumer Confidence Feb
Source: Nasdaq
