Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures rose two per cent on Monday, supported by brutally hot weather in Brazil that is likely to continue to stress crops despite some rains over the weekend coupled with the results of Sunday’s presidential election in Argentina.
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn rose more than 0.5 per cent, while wheat declined 1.3 per cent.
The most-active soybean contract settled 27 cents up to close at $13.67-1/4 per bushel. The contract touched a two-week low earlier in the session.
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Downpours on Sunday in Brazil provided partial relief to the top soybean exporting nation, where hot conditions have brutalized crops in northern and central growing areas. But the rains were erratic, said Drew Lerner, president of World Weather.
“There’s still a huge amount of real estate that still needs a solid drink of water,” Lerner said. He added that additional rains of up to two inches are in the forecast for the week, except for northeastern Brazil, which is expected to stay dry.
Brazil’s 2023-24 soybean planting pace as of Thursday was the slowest for the period since 2019-20, consultancy AgRural said.
The soybean market was also assessing Sunday’s presidential election in Argentina, the world’s top soymeal and soyoil exporter. Agriculture analysts said Argentine farmers may hold onto soybeans rather than sell until they know whether the nation’s new president Javier Milei will abandon the local peso currency in favour of the dollar.
CBOT December corn settled up 2-1/2 cents at $4.69-1/2 per bushel. CBOT December soft red winter wheat settled down 7-1/4 cents at $5.43-1/2 per bushel while K.C. and MGEX wheat set contract lows.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said exporters sold 104,000 metric tonnes of U.S. corn to Mexico.
After trading, USDA released its weekly crop progress report that rated 48 per cent of the winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition, slightly higher that expectations from agriculture analysts.
— Reporting for Reuters by Brendan O’Brien; additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
