Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. corn and soybean futures jumped as much as two per cent on Thursday, rebounding from two-week lows reached in the previous session, in a rally tied to technical buying and renewed export demand for the crops.
Chicago Board of Trade corn rose for the first time in five sessions, while soybeans snapped a two-session streak of losses. Futures extended gains after the U.S. Agriculture Department said exporters sold more than 100,000 tonnes of each crop to unknown destinations.
The USDA release followed an earlier announcement of corn export sales last week of 908,700 tonnes, the largest in a month and above the high end of analysts’ expectations.
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“The export sales were a good number on corn — a net-plus because everyone has been talking down the exports in the corn market,” said Agrivisor LLC analyst Dale Durchholz.
The drop in corn and soybean futures to two-week lows chilled sales from farmers who had nearly finished harvests of record-large U.S. crops. The slow pace of farmer sales forced buyers to increase bids, further supporting futures, Durchholz said.
CBOT December corn was up 10 cents at $3.72-3/4 per bushel, a rise of 2.75 percent and the largest daily gain of the month. Soybeans for January delivery climbed 15-3/4 cents to $10.20 per bushel.
CBOT December wheat was up 9-1/2 cents, or 1.8 per cent, at $5.47-1/4 while K.C. December hard red winter wheat was up 2.7 per cent at $6.02-3/4.
HRW was leading gains in the wheat complex after Saudi Arabia, which favours that variety, announced a tender seeking 330,000 tonnes and closing on Friday.
Top wheat importer Egypt earlier said that it purchased 60,000 tonnes of soft wheat from France.
— Michael Hirtzer reports on crop commodity markets for Reuters from Chicago. Additional reporting for Reuters by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
