* USDA projects record combined U.S. soy, corn plantings
* Traders await USDA supply/demand update on Friday
* Wheat gains on harsh U.S. cold, surging European wheat (Rewrites throughout, adds analyst comment, updates prices, changes dateline from PARIS/SINGAPORE)
By Karl Plume
CHICAGO, Feb 18 (Reuters) - U.S. corn and soybean futures retreated on Thursday after the Department of Agriculture (USDA) projected that U.S. farmers would devote more acres to the two crops this spring than any year on record.
Wheat futures, meanwhile, climbed to the highest level in 2-1/2 weeks on rallying European wheat prices, a weaker dollar and concerns about U.S. winter crop damage due to frigid weather across the wheat belt.
Corn and soy extended earlier declines after the USDA forecast 2021 corn plantings at 92 million acres and soybeans at 90 million acres at the agency’s annual Ag Outlook Forum, which would be the largest-ever combined plantings for the two crops. The corn acreage projection was slightly below trade expectations, while soybean acreage was a bit above.
Positioning ahead of the USDA’s broader supply-and-demand estimates, due to be released early on Friday, further pressured corn and soy.
“Historically, those (corn) acres have been low compared with final acres over the last 15 years. Soybean acres were above what the trade thought,” said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities.
“Now, people are worried that tomorrow, when we see the full Outlook Forum S&D, that the balance table is not as tight as we’d feared for corn and beans,” he added.
Chicago Board of Trade March soybean futures were down 11 cents at $13.72-3/4 a bushel at 12:13 p.m. CST (1813 GMT), while March corn fell 4-3/4 cents to $5.48-1/4 a bushel.
CBOT March wheat climbed 14 cents to $6.58 a bushel, following strong gains in Euronext wheat and worries about U.S. winter wheat damage due to severely cold temperatures.
