Chicago | Reuters—Chicago soybean, corn and wheat futures rallied on Tuesday on short-covering and concerns over weather conditions in South America and Russia, market analysts said.
But prices for all three declined annually for a second consecutive year, as global supplies are ample and trade relations remain uneasy between the U.S. and key export market China, analysts said.
The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade Sv1 settled up 18-3/4 cents at $10.10-1/2 a bushel, and corn Cv1 ended up 6-1/4 cents at $4.58-1/2 a bushel.
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U.S. grains: Wheat futures rise on supply snags in top-exporter Russia
U.S. wheat futures closed higher on Thursday on concerns over the limited availability of supplies for export in Russia, analysts said.
But the CBOT’s benchmark soybean contract ended the year down around 22 per cent, and corn down 2.7 per cent.
CBOT wheat futures Wv1 rose 3-1/4 cents to finish at $5.51-1/2 a bushel, but fell 12.2 per cent for the year.
All three crops hit near their lowest levels since 2020 during the year, with soybeans returning to that trough in mid-December as beneficial rain increased prospects of a record Brazilian harvest in early 2025.
But a spate of dry weather in Argentina fueled the jump in prices on New Year’s Eve, said Randy Place, analyst with Hightower Report, as one of the world’s largest corn and soy producers saw its crops threatened by more hot, dry conditions over the coming weeks.
News in wheat-growing areas of the Black Sea was more subdued, said Place, although Russia’s state weather agency forecast earlier in the week poor conditions threatening the development of the wheat crop in the Central and Volga regions.
Very cold temperatures forecast for the Northern U.S. Plains in the coming weeks could also threaten wheat crops there, said Place.
“This hasn’t been a good year in any of the markets,” said Place, but 2025 might be better, he said, with prices so low that there is little downside left.
With U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, uncertainty remains about how possible tariff hikes on multiple countries, including China, will affect trade.
“Everybody’s just trying to figure it out on their own,” said Place.
—Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore
