CBOT May 2020 corn (candlesticks) with 20-, 50- and 100-day moving averages, and NYMEX May 2020 WTI crude oil (purple line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn hits lowest since September 2009

Soybeans firm on bargain buying; wheat mixed

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. corn futures fell 1.4 per cent on Tuesday to a fresh 10-1/2-year low as crumbling demand for fuel due to the global coronavirus pandemic threatened the ethanol sector. “They are taking their cue from energy,” said Mark Schultz, chief market analyst at Northstar Commodity. “It is a pretty tough business […] Read more

CBOT May 2020 corn (candlesticks) and NYMEX May 2020 WTI crude oil (blue line). (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Corn sinks to lowest since 2009 as crude oil turns negative

Russian export curbs support CBOT wheat

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade corn futures sagged 2.6 per cent to its lowest since September 2019, with a plunging crude oil market slashing demand for ethanol, traders said. Soybean futures also were lower, hitting a one-month low on pressure from cratering demand for energy amid the coronavirus pandemic. “Anything that had […] Read more



Burnett on Markets: Global grain stocks offer false sense of food security

Burnett on Markets: Global grain stocks offer false sense of food security

In event of production shortfall, 60 per cent of available stocks would never be available to market

The economic parallels from the COVID-19 epidemic are quickly changing from comparisons to the recent financial crisis in 2008-09 to the Great Depression. My parents and grandparents lived through the Depression and it did have many impacts on their everyday lives. The main symbol of the Depression-era mentality was the two enormous chest freezers in […] Read more


CBOT May 2020 wheat with Bollinger (20,2) bands. (Barchart)

U.S. grains: Chicago wheat stabilizes

Corn steady after lows; soybeans continue to slip

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat futures rose on Friday, as traders wrestled with conflicting signals — from concerns over export demand of U.S. crops to the potential of weather risks. Corn futures edged higher on bargain shopping, consolidating above a 3-1/2 year low this week, while soybeans fell slightly, traders said. The modest gains […] Read more

Bulk wheat being loaded on a ship in a Russian port. (YGrek/iStock/Getty Images)

Russia will suspend grain exports for six weeks if quota runs out mid-May

Several supplies to Egypt might be affected, traders say

Moscow | Reuters — Russia, the world’s biggest wheat exporter, will suspend grain exports until July 1 once its export quota is exhausted, which is currently expected to happen in mid-May, its deputy agriculture minister Oksana Lut said on Friday. Russia last fully banned wheat exports in 2010 when drought hit its harvest, rocking global […] Read more



Valero Energy’s ethanol plant at Aurora, S.D., about 90 km north of Sioux Falls. (Valero.com)

COVID-19 spurs new clash between Big Oil, Big Corn

Flagging consumption leads to pressures on U.S. fuels, biofuels

New York | Reuters — A fuel demand meltdown caused by the coronavirus outbreak in the United States has started up a new fight between the oil and agriculture industries over the nation’s biofuel policy, this time over whether the policy should be suspended or expanded as a result of the crisis. The issue once […] Read more


A container terminal at the Port of Vancouver. (FangXiaNuo/E+/Canada)

Logistics, lack of containers hamper pulse crop movement

MarketsFarm — Logistics disruptions due to COVID-19 are hampering nearby movement of pulses, according to a number of industry participants speaking Thursday on a webinar organized by the Global Pulse Consortium. However, the longer-term impact of the pandemic remains to be seen. “The shipping industry has been hugely impacted by COVID-19,” Chris Oliver, nautical director […] Read more