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* Wheat down 3.3% this week, biggest decline since mid-August
* Soybeans eyes 1st weekly gain in a month on strong demand
(Recasts with move in wheat futures, adds quote in paragraph) SINGAPORE, Dec 6 (Reuters) – Chicago wheat futures were set for their biggest weekly decline in almost four months on Friday, giving up some of gains made in November, as ample world inventories and a lack of demand for U.S. supplies pressured the market. Soybeans gained ground as rising hopes over a long-awaited trade deal between Washington and Beijing underpinned prices. The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade is down 3.3% this week, the biggest loss since the week ending Aug. 16. Soybeans are up 1.2% for the week, the first weekly rise since early November, while corn is down nearly 1% this week after climbing 3.4% last week. “The rally in wheat prices in the last two weeks was overdone as there is no shortage of wheat,” said one Singapore-based grains trader. “Australian drought has been factored into the market and we will not know the fate of the U.S. crop anytime soon as it is going to be under the snow until March.” The wheat market had gained nearly 8% in the last two weeks due to short-covering and lower production in Australia. Wheat export sales of 228,100 tonnes were the lowest since mid-June and also below a range of market forecasts. Corn export sales came in at 548,500 tonnes, near the low end of estimates that ranged from 500,000 tonnes to 900,000 tonnes. In the soybean market, there was additional support stemming from expectations of tighter soymeal supplies after news that an Argentine bean crusher was experiencing financial stress. Argentine soy crusher Vicentin said in a statement on Thursday it had begun a payment restructuring process because of “financial stress,” which could tighten up world supplies of soymeal. A source close to the firm said the company was struggling to repay over $350 million in debt. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Thursday morning that private exporters reported sale of 245,000 tonnes of soybeans to unknown destinations, involving 125,000 tonnes for delivery in the 2019/20 marketing year and 120,000 tonnes for delivery in 2020/21. Commodity funds were net sellers of Chicago Board of Trade corn and wheat futures contracts on Thursday, traders said. They were net buyers of CBOT soybeans, soymeal and soyoil.
Grains prices at 0405 GMT
Contract Last Change Pct chg Two-day chg MA 30 RSICBOT wheat 523.75 0.00 +0.00% -0.71% 519.08 56CBOT corn 377.25 0.50 +0.13% -0.33% 385.20 40CBOT soy 886.75 2.50 +0.28% +1.00% 910.28 45CBOT rice 12.27 -$0.03 -0.20% -0.20% $12.10 56WTI crude 58.22 -$0.21 -0.36% -0.36% $56.86
Currencies
Euro/dlr $1.111 $0.000 +0.04% +0.27%USD/AUD 0.6840 0.001 +0.10% -0.13%
Most active contracts Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per hundredweight RSI 14, exponential
(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; editing by Uttaresh.V)
