Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures approached a two-week high on Thursday on concerns that hot, dry weather in forecasts could reduce the upcoming U.S. harvest.
The U.S. has little room for crop losses due to unfavourable weather because the government already projects tight soybean supplies, analysts said. Some worries over field conditions are creeping into the market.
“There are some reports in the fields that soybeans and canola are a little bit disappointing,” said Craig Turner, commodities trader at Daniels Trading.
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“It does sound to us that maybe the pods are a little bit smaller and the counts are a little bit less than we were expecting in Illinois and Iowa.”
Most-active soybean futures ended up 6-1/2 cents at $13.30 a bushel and reached their highest price since Aug. 4 (all figures US$).
Corn futures also settled higher, with the most-active contract rising 4-1/4 cents to $4.85-3/4 a bushel after recovering on Wednesday from a December 2020 low.
The corn market temporarily pared gains after Washington escalated objections to Mexican curbs on genetically modified corn imports, amid concerns the spat could threaten U.S. exports to Mexico.
U.S. farmers will harvest corn and soybean crops this autumn, and August is the key month of development for soybeans.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture warned hot weather poses a risk to farms.
“A punishing heat wave will grip much of the south and the nation’s mid-section, including the western Corn Belt, where temperatures approaching or reaching 100 F (38 C) could adversely affect filling summer crops,” USDA said in a daily weather report.
Market gains did not extend to wheat futures, which were weighed down by unimpressive U.S. export demand and expectations for large Russian shipments, traders said.
India is in talks with Russia to import wheat to curb food inflation, sources told Reuters.
Most-active CBOT wheat futures closed 7-3/4 cents lower at $6.15-1/4 a bushel.
— Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila.
