PARIS/SINGAPORE, Dec 24 (Reuters) – Chicago wheat futures held close to a three-week low on Thursday, staying on track for a biggest weekly fall in six, as resurgent Argentine exports reinforced a gloomy outlook for U.S. wheat overseas.
Soybeans and were corn almost flat in subdued trade ahead of the Christmas holiday, with corn trading at a one-week low.
Chicago Board Of Trade (CBOT) March wheat was up 0.4 percent at $4.71-1/4 after earlier equalling Wednesday’s three-week low of $4.68. The contract is down just over 3 percent over the week, the most in six weeks.
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In Europe, March milling wheat on Euronext touched a three-month low at 173.00 euros a tonne for the second session in a row.
“There is pressure on CBOT wheat as buyers are closely watching Argentina’s plans to export more grain,” said Kaname Gokon at brokerage Okato Shoji in Tokyo.
“Buyers are watching any devaluation of Argentina’s currency, which means they have greater incentive to export higher volumes of wheat, corn and soybeans.”
Egypt, the world’s top wheat importer, bought 120,000 tonnes of Argentine wheat in a tender, in which it overlooked offers of French wheat and received no bids for U.S. supplies.
Forecasts for snow in U.S. wheat-growing areas added pressure to prices, traders said, as snow cover could protect crops after unusually warm weather across the northern hemisphere had raised concern wheat was not ready for winter.
“There really needs to be a major weather event to change things,” one European trader said. “The market is bearish for us in the near term.”
The Euronext exchange said it will prolong its main wheat futures contract into 2018, after its recently launched premium contract failed to attract liquidity.
March corn was unchanged at $3.65-1/2, after earlier equalling a one-week low of $3.64-1/2 set in the previous session. January soybeans was up half a cent at $8.82-1/4 a bushel.
Forecasts for beneficial rains in Brazil, the world’s top soybean producer, also weighed on prices.
CBOT grain and oilseed futures will close early on Thursday and resume trading on Monday following the Christmas holiday. Euronext futures will close around 1300 GMT in a short session before also reopening on Monday.
