Jim Niewold, a grain farmer in Loda, Ill., checks corn plants on his farm, which has a barn behind it that still stores some of last year’s crop as all of his end markets are affected by the coronavirus. Impact of the (COVID-19) pandemic.
Nick Carey | Reuters
U.S. corn futures rose to their highest level since late January on Friday before paring gains and soybeans hitting a one-month high, analysts said, as flooding disrupted harvests in top exporter Brazil and disease ravaged Argentina’s corn crop .
Wheat futures hit a one-week high as concerns about dry weather in Russia, the world’s largest wheat supplier, once again increased.
July corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade rose 1/2 cent to settle at $4.60-1/4 a bushel after climbing to $4.68, the contract’s highest level since Jan. 26. U.S. farmers’ corn sales increased from Thursday to $4.60 a barrel as the contract was signed, brokers said.
CBOT July soybeans closed up 16 cents at $12.15 a bushel on Friday, while July wheat closed up 18-1/4 cents at $6.22-1/2 a bushel.
Corn and soybean prices were supported by flooding in Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state, where harvest is in its final stages. The state is Brazil’s second-largest soybean producer and sixth-largest corn producer.
In Argentina, leaf-cutting insect-borne corn stunting disease and bad weather prompted the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange to cut its 2023/24 corn harvest forecast by 3 million tonnes to 46.5 tonnes.
Concerns about labor issues added to support. “It’s strike season in Argentina,” NoBullAg.com analyst Susan Stroud said, referring to strikes disrupting work at the country’s grain ports.
In terms of wheat, Russia’s IKAR Agricultural Consulting Company lowered the country’s output forecast from 93 million tons to 91 million tons, and wheat exports from 52 million tons to 50.5 million tons.
Wheat futures rose as weather forecasts showed little rain in the region over the next two weeks.
Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analysis, said the weather in Russia and a weaker dollar brought “end-user business-related buying.”
There and in South America, “nature has played her trump card in cutting supplies.”
Zuzolo said managed money funds held a net short position in CBOT wheat futures in early 2024 due to a stronger dollar and slowing U.S. demand.
“Both of those things are now being re-evaluated.”
About The Author
