U.S. futures extend gains as global supply worries linger

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U.S. wheat, soybean and corn futures rose in early trading on Monday, extending gains after the U.S. government’s latest assessment of global supply and demand reflected the impact of the Ukraine crisis on Black Sea shipments.

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 1.1% at $10.70-1/4 a bushel, as of 0110 GMT, after closing at its highest level in two weeks on Friday.

* CBOT soybeans climbed as much as 0.5% to $16.97-1/2 a bushel, their highest since March 28.

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* CBOT corn rose as much as 0.5% to $7.72 a bushel, extending gains to a third session.

* Grains prices have largely been underpinned by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has stalled large amounts of Ukrainian exports of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, and by worries about the eventual Western sanctions on Moscow.

* Russian forces pounded targets in eastern Ukraine with missiles and artillery on Sunday as Austria’s leader planned to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Washington pledged to give Ukraine “the weapons it needs” to defend itself against a new Russian offensive.

* U.S. wheat supplies will be bigger than previously expected as exporters have failed to gain new export business even as fighting between Ukraine and Russia disrupts shipments from the Black Sea region, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Friday.

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* The USDA pegged U.S. soybean stocks at 260 million bushels by Sept. 1, down 15 million from the previous forecast as harvest shortfalls in Brazil boosted export demand for U.S. supplies. The agency cut Brazil’s soybean exports by 2.75 million tonnes to 82.75 million tonnes.

* U.S. corn ending stocks were left unchanged at 1.440 billion bushels, the USDA said in its monthly report, while the agency increased Brazilian exports by 1.5 million tonnes to 44.5 million tonnes.

MARKET NEWS

* Asian shares slipped on Monday ahead of a week thronging with central bank meetings and U.S. inflation data, while the euro eked out a gain on relief the far right did not win the first round of the French presidential elections.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT)

0130 China CPI YY March

0130 China PPI YY March

0600 UK Manufacturing Output MM Feb

0600 UK GDP Estimate Feb (Reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)