Wheat eases after rally, dismal demand for US supplies weighs

Wheat eases after rally, dismal demand for US supplies weighs

SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat futures ticked lower on Wednesday, with a lack of demand for U.S. cargoes adding pressure on prices, although concerns over Black Sea supplies and lower output in Australia provided a floor under the market.

Soybeans edged higher. Corn was largely unchanged.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell quarter of a cent $6.27-1/2 a bushel, as of 0026 GMT. Soybeans added 0.3% to $13.57-3/4 a bushel and corn was unchanged at $6.08 a bushel.

* Stiff competition in the wheat export market is weighing on Chicago futures.

* The lowest offer presented at an Egyptian state purchasing tender for wheat on Tuesday was $229 per tonne for 55,000 tonnes of Russian wheat on a free-on-board basis, traders said. No U.S. wheat was offered in the tender.

* However, a forecast of lower output in Australia, the world's second-largest exporter, limited the price decline.

* Australia's production of winter crops is set to fall from record highs, with wheat output seen declining more than 30%, the country's agricultural department said, as forecasters predict dryness due to the El Nino weather pattern.

* Wheat and barley production will drop by 34% and 30% to 26.2 million tonnes and 9.9 million