It appeared to be a consolidation of some description at the CME futures market in the USA. Soybeans found some steam and then lost it after trade representatives warned that the negotiations with China could go on for much longer than they expected. Corn succumb to further technical selling while wheat took a breather as the bottom feeders hoovered up some cheap buys.

Bearish influences on wheat came from Sovecon’s increase in Russian wheat exports for the 2018-19 crop. There forecast has been and is still lower than the official forecast at just 35.8mt. This compares to the USDA forecast in the last WASDE of 37mt.

Bangladesh, everyone’s favourite counterparty, called for a tender to supply 50kt of milling wheat. There is some talk from the FAO that increasing demand for wheat in Bangladesh could see annual imports top 5.9mt this season.

On the weather front we see another winter storm pushing through the USA producing more heavy snow in the north and rain in the south. The winter wheat crop is well protected. The additional snow may result in a slow start to spring field work and possibly some issues with river freight as days warm and snow melts. It’s still very early days yet and the system is generally viewed as beneficial to cropping.