Chicago grain futures surged on Wednesday as underwhelming rainfall and forecasts for hot, dry weather in Argentina's parched corn and soy belt lifted prices, traders said.
A mild winter with record warm temperatures in many agricultural regions of Russia, viewed by scientists as a sign of climate change, is helping winter crops to survive, state weather agency chief Roman Vilfand said on Wednesday.
Chicago grain futures turned higher on Tuesday, as investors adjusted positions while they waited to see if U.S. President Donald Trump would follow through on threats to impose 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico this weekend, analysts said.
As Argentina continues to face dry conditions, the United States Department of Agriculture attaché in Buenos Aires cut their estimate for the country's 2024/25 corn crop. Meanwhile the attaché bumped up their call on the Argentine wheat harvest, which was recently completed.
Chicago Board of Trade corn and soybean futures fell on Monday, with traders hedging their positions in case the Trump administration implements tariffs on goods from major U.S. trading partners, according to analysts.
Frigid temperatures this week likely killed as much as 15 per cent of the winter wheat crop in parts of the U.S. Plains and Midwest, the Commodity Weather Group said on Friday, in an ominous sign for U.S. wheat production.
U.S. soybean and corn futures on Friday fell from multi-month highs after Argentina said it would lower grain export taxes, fueling expectations the United States will face tougher competition for sales on the global market.
Chicago Board of Trade corn futures resumed a rally on Thursday as concerns over dryness in Argentina and tighter U.S. stocks propelled futures to the highest price seen in more than 14 months, traders said.