Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybeans climbed on Friday, bolstered by extreme heat and mixed results on the final day of a Midwest crop tour.
Corn traded much of the day mixed, ending just under even as crop production remains robust, despite recent yield-eroding weather.
Wheat fell as global supplies remain plentiful, though signs of concern have crept into some key growing regions.
The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) ended up 16 cents at $13.87-3/4 a bushel, after reaching a one-month high of $13.90-1/2, its highest since July 28 (all figures US$).
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For the week, soybeans added 2.48 per cent, its second consecutive weekly gain.
CBOT corn eased 1/4 cent to $4.88 a bushel, finishing the week down 1.22 per cent.
CBOT wheat fell 10 cents, to $6.21-3/4 a bushel, ending the week down 2.97 per cent.
U.S. 2023 soybean production could total 4.11 billion bushels, advisory service Pro Farmer said after the market close, below USDA’s most recent estimate of 4.205 billion bushels. Pro Farmer pegs yield at 49.7 bushels per acre.
Pro Farmer predicted the U.S. corn crop to be 14.96 billion bushels, below USDA’s most recent estimate of 15.111 billion bushels. Pro Farmer said corn yield could be 172 bushels per acre.
Soybeans were further boosted by a sale of 121,000 metric tonnes of soybeans to China for delivery in the 2023-24 marketing year, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.
“Beans are 60 cents off the lows from Wednesday,” said Jeff French, owner of AgHedgers. “It’s a very good pre-harvest rally.”
French said the rally could incentivize farmers to sell soybeans, opting to store corn to wait for higher prices.
“Selling $13.50 beans cash off the combine is a hell of a lot better than selling $4.40 corn,” he said.
Wheat felt pressure from weak export demand and a strong U.S. dollar.
The U.S. dollar edged up against a basket of currencies on Friday, as the Federal Reserve considers additional interest rate hikes.
“Chicago soft wheat is struggling to find the demand that it needs,” said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX.
Argentina’s wheat crop needs precipitation in the coming days across key farmland to stave off a hit to yields, a weekly report from the Buenos Aires Grains Exchange showed on Thursday.
Prolonged heat across many Ukrainian regions has dried the upper soil level, creating unfavourable conditions for winter grain sowing, analysts at APK-Inform quoted state weather forecasters as saying on Thursday.
— Reporting for Reuters by Christopher Walljasper in Chicago; additional reporting by Naveen Thukral and Peter Hobson.
