Wheat Bounces Back on New Export Purchases
October 23 2020 - 3:57PM
Dow Jones News
By Kirk Maltais
-- Wheat for December delivery rose 1.6% to $6.32 3/4 a bushel
on the Chicago Board of Trade Friday in reaction to a new Egyptian
tender as well as lingering weather issues in Russia.
-- Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.9% to $10.83 3/4 a
bushel.
-- Corn for December delivery rose 0.7% to $4.19 1/4 a
bushel.
HIGHLIGHTS
Export Appetite: Wheat futures trading on the CBOT rose Friday,
bouncing back from a weaker finish Thursday as Egypt seeks an
international tender for wheat. Russian wheat priced at $262.97 a
metric ton was the cheapest offer at an Egyptian international
tender Friday, according to a lineup of offers seen by The Wall
Street Journal. Egypt's state grain buyer confirmed that it bought
165,000 metric tons of Russian wheat Friday at that price, more
than what Egypt paid last month for Russian wheat.
Getting in Place: Traders piled into grains Friday on hopes that
commodities have a compelling story to push them higher through the
end of the year.
"Fresh commercial and speculative buying again emerged to buy
wheat following yesterday's price break, with Black Sea prices
continuing to push higher amid lingering drought concerns," said
Arlan Suderman of StoneX. "Corn prices found support from more
rumors emerging from China that it may raise its import quotas
after the election, although buying ahead of the weekend remains
limited thus far."
INSIGHTS
Hungry Market: Grains traders have speculated that dry weather
in South America will hurt soybean yields in Brazil, but whatever
crop does get produced, the world seems to have a voracious
appetite for it.
"Brazilian producers have already marketed a reported 55% of
this year's soybean crop," said Karl Setzer of AgriVisor. "This is
considerably higher than average as record returns were seen
following currency exchange rate changes."
Shift Into Reverse: The recent rallies in staple agricultural
commodities may shift into reverse as stockpiling eases and high
prices encourage planting in coming quarters, said Capital
Economics. According to the firm, the global wheat market will
remain in a comfortable surplus in its current season and stocks
will reach a new record high, which will weigh on prices.
Corn and soybean prices have rallied strongly partly due to
speculative demand but this is now overdone, Capital Economics
said.
AHEAD
-- The USDA is scheduled to release its weekly grain export
inspections data at 11 a.m. EDT Monday.
-- The USDA is due to release its weekly crop progress report
for the 2020-21 crop at 4 p.m. EDT Monday.
-- Beyond Meat Inc. is scheduled to release its third- quarter
earnings after the stock market closes Monday.
-- Will Horner and Lucy Craymer contributed to this article.
Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 23, 2020 15:42 ET (19:42 GMT)
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