Wheat drops on improved supply outlook

SINGAPORE/PARIS, Nov 7 (Reuters): Chicago wheat futures slid for the first time in five sessions on Tuesday, with the improved condition of the US winter crop boosting the 2024 global supply outlook and adding pressure on prices.
Soybeans ticked up, trading close to last session's eight-week high, on weather concerns in top exporter Brazil that have delayed planting and strong Chinese demand.
The Chicago Board of Trade's (CBOT) most-active wheat contract fell 1 per cent to $5.70-1/4 a bushel, as of 1219 GMT. Soybeans were down 0.3 per cent to $13.60 a bushel, while corn gave up 0.3 per cent to $4.72-1/2 a bushel.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Monday rated 50 per cent of the U.S. winter wheat crop in good-to-excellent condition, up three percentage points from the previous week and the highest for this time of year since 2019 as soil moisture improved in the Plains following a three-year drought. Improved crop prospects after rainfall in drought-hit Australia and Argentina were also weighing on wheat prices.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian winter crops sown for the 2024 harvest were expected to successfully pass the winter and produce a good harvest, scientists of the Academy of Agrarian Sciences of Ukraine was quoted as saying on Tuesday.
The market is monitoring uneven crop weather in Brazil, where soybean planting has been delayed. Dryness is a concern in the leading soy-producing state Mato Grosso, while heavy downpours have soaked southern areas.
China imported 5.16 million metric tons of soybeans in October, customs data showed on Tuesday, a 25 per cent surge from a year earlier but lower than analysts expectations as Brazilian soybeans continued to arrive at ports later than usual.
However, the rapidly progressing U.S. corn and soybean harvest weighed on prices. The corn harvest was 81 per cent complete by Sunday, slightly below the average analyst estimate of 82 per cent but ahead of the five-year average pace of 77 per cent.