Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean and corn futures rose for the third day in a row on Friday on concerns about harvests in Brazil and Argentina limiting production.
Wheat futures were mixed, with concerns about potential Russian aggression against Ukraine disrupting the shipment of wheat from the key export region sending prices for hard red winter wheat to their highest in 7-1/2 weeks. But the more-actively traded soft red winter wheat contracts ended lower on some late profit taking.
Traders also said the commodities were receiving support as investors unwound short positions ahead of a long weekend. U.S. markets will be closed on Monday for the Presidents Day holiday.
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CBOT March soybean futures settled up 9-1/2 cents a $16.01-1/2 a bushel (all figures US$).
“It is really the deterioration in the South American crop that is driving the buying the futures market and we expect that this will eventually translate to a pick up in demand for U.S. soybeans,” Tomm Pfitzenmaier, an analyst for Summit Commodity Brokerage in Iowa, said in a note to clients. “The recent buying by China would seem to reinforce the concern about South American supply.”
Private exporters reported the sale of 198,000 tonnes of soybeans for delivery to unknown destinations, the U.S. Agriculture Department said. It marked the fourth day in a row a so-called flash sale of soybeans was announced. Read full story
Rising export demand also supported soyoil futures, which rose to an eight-month high.
Indian traders have contracted to import a record 100,000 tonnes of U.S. soyoil because of limited supplies from drought-hit South America, dealers told Reuters.
CBOT March corn ended up 4-1/4 cents at $6.54-1/4 a bushel.
Traders are continuing to assess weather forecasts for Argentina and southern Brazil to see if rain expected in the rest of February will curb further yield losses.
CBOT March soft red winter wheat was down one cent at $7.97 a bushel. K.C. hard red winter wheat, which tracks the biggest class of wheat exported from the U.S., was up 9-1/2 cents at $8.32-1/2.
— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
