"Brazil's crop forecasts are being lowered, which is supporting prices but we don't expect the market to rally as the US-China trade war is weighing on sentiment," a Singapore-based trader said. Brazilian agribusiness consultancy Céleres on Wednesday cut its soy harvest forecast for the country due to drought, but the 117.2-million-tonne estimate is largely in line with those of other analysts.
Thomson Reuters Agriculture Research on Wednesday lowered its forecast of Brazil's ongoing harvest by 2 percent to 118 million tonnes, joining other crop watchers in factoring in the impact of dryness on yields. In Argentina, there are worries about excessive rains. "The changing weather conditions in South America support prices. In Brazil, dry weather is confirmed while in Argentina wet conditions persist," analyst Agritel said in a market note.
Concerns over a prolonged trade war between Washington and Beijing helped keep a lid on prices. A bipartisan group of US lawmakers introduced bills on Wednesday that would ban the sale of US chips or other components to Huawei Technologies Co Ltd or other Chinese telecommunications companies that violate US sanctions or export control laws. The most active CBOT wheat contract was up 0.05 percent at $5.12-3/4 a bushel while March milling wheat futures on Paris-based Euronext rose 0.25 percent to 203.50 euros a tonne.