16.11.2023 (Nasdaq) - PARIS/CANBERRA, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures eased on Thursday as forecasts of rain relief for crops in top exporter Brazil helped cool supply concerns that pushed prices to a 2-1/2-month top this week.

Corn ticked down as the market was similarly pressured by showers expected in Brazil and Argentina, as well as last week's official forecast of record U.S. corn production this year.

Chicago wheat extended losses to touch a one-month low, with showers in the U.S. Plains expected to help recently planted wheat and U.S. exports remaining curbed by cheaper Black Sea supplies.

Price moves were moderate, with wider financial markets consolidating and grain participants awaiting a weekly report on U.S. export sales for a demand update.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Sv1 was down 0.7% at $13.74-3/4 a bushel by 1252 GMT.

On Wednesday, the contract had reached $13.98-1/2, its highest since Aug. 30, before closing lower.

Soybeans have rallied this month as hot, dry weather in key cropping areas of Brazil disrupted planting, but rain is forecast in those regions next week and global supply remains plentiful.

"The trade will be looking at the weather over the coming days to see whether the promised rains arrive," said Andrew Whitelaw at Australian agricultural consultancy Episode 3.

Analysts at Rabobank said they expect "a bumper 163 million metric ton crop haul" in Brazil in 2024 and that Argentina, the biggest exporter of soy products, should recover after last season's harvest failure.

Soybeans remained supported by brisk demand. U.S. soybean processors crushed a record amount of soybeans in October and end-of-month soyoil stocks fell to the lowest in almost nine years, National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) data showed.

A wave of export sales to China has also underpinned Chicago soybean prices, though an absence of agricultural trade announcements following highly anticipated discussions between Joe Biden and Xi Jinping on Wednesday tempered sentiment.

CBOT corn Cv1 eased 0.5% to $4.68-1/2 a bushel, while CBOT wheat Wv1 was down 1.3% at $5.53 a bushel, after earlier touching its lowest since Oct. 12.

The wheat market was still facing pressure from competitive Russian supplies and efforts by war-torn Ukraine to revive its maritime exports.

Prices at 1252 GMT

Last

Change

Pct Move

CBOT wheat Wv1

553.00

-7.50

-1.34

CBOT corn Cv1

468.50

-2.25

-0.48

CBOT soy Sv1

1374.75

-10.25

-0.74

Paris wheat BL2c1

226.25

-2.00

-0.88

Paris maize EMAc1

205.75

-1.50

-0.72

Paris rapeseed COMc1

435.50

-6.75

-1.53

WTI crude oil CLc1

76.03

-0.63

-0.82

Euro/dlr EUR=

1.08

0.00

-0.06

Most active contracts - Wheat, corn and soy US

cents/bushel. Paris futures in euros per tonne

(Reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Shailesh Kuber)

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/grains-soybeans-ease-after-rally-wheat-slips-to-one-month-low