Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat futures firmed two per cent on Tuesday, strengthened by global supply concerns amid strong demand, while a weaker U.S. dollar supported U.S. trade.
Corn inched higher after a weekly decline in U.S crop conditions reported by the U.S. Agriculture Department (USDA).
Soybeans traded both sides of even before easing on harvest pressure.
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) most-active wheat contract added 13-3/4 cents to $7.00-3/4 a bushel, its biggest daily gain since Aug. 18 (all figures US$).
Read Also
Mexico reports 53 per cent increase in flesh-eating screwworm cases since July
Mexico has recorded 5,086 cases of flesh-eating screwworm in animals as of August 17, a 53 per cent jump from the number of cases reported in July, according to Mexican government data seen by Reuters on Wednesday.
Corn firmed seven cents to $5.20-1/4 a bushel while soybeans eased 2-1/4 cents to $12.82-1/2 a bushel.
France cut its estimate of soft wheat production in the European Union’s biggest grain grower by more than 600,000 tonnes on Tuesday to 36.06 million tonnes, citing wet summer weather.
Canada’s drought conditions damaged the wheat harvest even more than it appeared weeks ago, according to a Statistics Canada report estimating spring wheat output at 15.3 million tonnes, down 41 per cent year over year.
This comes at a time of strong global wheat demand, including a significant number of international tenders in the past week.
U.S. winter wheat was 12 per cent planted as of Sept. 5, up from five per cent last week, USDA said.
“With $7 wheat, I think you’re going to have more wheat acres than we’ve had the last five-six years,” said Ed Duggan, senior risk management specialist at Top Third Ag Marketing.
Meanwhile, USDA rated 58 per cent of the U.S. corn crop in good-to-excellent condition in its weekly crop conditions report, down one percentage point from the previous week, while soybean ratings were unchanged at 57 per cent good-to-excellent. Analysts surveyed by Reuters on average had expected no change for either crop.
Soybean futures were underpinned by recent exports, though closures on the U.S. Gulf Coast due to Hurricane Ida have muted recent shipping activity.
“Seasonally, exports tend to skyrocket. We just have to get past some logistical hiccups down in the Gulf,” said Terry Reilly, senior agriculture futures analyst at Futures International. “I expect that to quickly rebound and beans to go out the door, as soon as we get harvest under way.”
— Christopher Walljasper reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.
