Wheat futures may jump 8 percent by the end of March if a declining dollar drives the grain past a key level, according to Derek Lewis, a ClearTrade Commodities trader in Chicago.
Grain stocks in Ukraine on March 1 totaled 12.8 million metric tons, a fall of 21% on the year, the state statistics committee said Tuesday. The grain stocks included 5.8 million tons of wheat, 3.1 million tons of barley, 2.4 million tons of corn and 600,000 tons of rye.
Cold weather is preventing Ukrainian farmers from planting spring grains, which may lead to a reduction in the barley-planted area and an increase in the areas planted with corn and sunflower, the UkrAgroConsult market analyst said Tuesday.
As of March 11 of the current year, ice over occupied nearly 0.77 mln ha of winter grain sowings in Ukraine, or 9.1% of winter crops sowings, informed the press-cutting service of Ministry of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine.
Russia’s sea ports handled 77.4 million metric tons of cargo in January-February, an increase of 7.9% compared with January-February 2009, according to figures released Monday by the national association of sea ports.
Soybeans rose after an industry report showed increased demand from U.S. makers of animal feed and vegetable oil. Corn fell for an eighth session, the longest slump since 2005, on slowing demand for U.S. grain.
Wheat fell on speculation that a stronger dollar will curb demand for U.S. supplies as favorable weather improves the outlook for the winter crop in Kansas, the country’s largest grower.
There are plenty of bearish signs for international wheat prices and little that’s bullish, yet prices are still susceptible to a short-term bounce, according to an analysis issued Friday by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA.AU).
Ukraine exported 16.557 million metric tons of grain between the beginning of the current marketing year July 1, 2009 and March 2 this year compared with 16.307 million tons in the corresponding period in the previous marketing year, the Agriculture Ministry reported Friday.
Wheat rose for the first time in four days on speculation that a slumping dollar will revive demand for grain from the U.S., the world’s largest exporter.