Chicago soybean futures slid on Thursday as a widely-watched U.S. government report is expected to show higher world supplies, although losses were limited by strong Chinese demand.

Wheat gained ground on crop concerns in some growing regions, while corn was little changed.

“The market, and beans in particular, might get a jolt from tonight’s USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture) crop report,” said Tobin Gorey, director of agriculture strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The USDA is due to release its monthly global agriculture supply-demand report later in the day.

“The market is already expecting a slightly heavier supply picture, particularly in the U.S,” he added.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade eased 0.1% t0 $8.65 a bushel by 0310 GMT.

Wheat was up 0.2% at $5.07-1/4 a bushel and corn edged up 0.1% to $3.26-1/2 a bushel.

China has made a string of purchases of U.S. soybeans recently. Chinese state-owned Sinograin bought at least 120,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans for shipment in December on Tuesday, traders said.

Dryness in Argentina’s central agricultural region threatens to derail expectations that farmers will plant a record 7 million hectares of wheat in the 2020/21 cycle, the Rosario grains exchange said on Wednesday.

Egypt’s state grains buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities, said on Wednesday it had bought 120,000 tonnes of Russian wheat in a tender.

Corn is facing pressure after U.S. crop progress report on Monday showed an improvement in crop conditions.

Ethanol production increased by 72,000 barrels per day last week, the U.S. Energy Information Energy reported on Wednesday, while stocks of the corn-based fuel dropped 674,000 billion barrels.

Source: Hellenic Shipping News – 11^th June 2020 (originally from Reuters)

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