Chicago | Reuters – Chicago spot corn and soybean futures extended gains on Wednesday, as traders adjusted their positions ahead of a government crop report, traders said.
But the most-active and deferred corn contracts eased downward, as latest forecasts see an increased chance of rain in U.S. growing areas as crop nears pollination phase.
Traders expect the U.S. Department of Agriculture to raise its estimate of domestic corn plantings in its acreage and stocks report on Thursday.
Analysts also expect the USDA to show a cut to the estimated soybean and spring wheat acres.
Read Also
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.
Adding to the day’s volatility, investors rolled off the July contracts ahead of first notice, or the first date users get notified on being assigned a delivery of their contracted grain, said Karl Setzer, commodity risk analyst for AgriVisor.
“Tomorrow is a heck of a day, with the USDA report and first notice – and also month end and quarterly end,” Setzer said. “That’s why we see July corn up, and the rest of the contracts trading lower.”
The Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) most-active corn contract Cv1 settled the day down 5-1/2 cents at $6.53-3/4 a bushel. The July corn contract CN2 settled up 10-3/4 cents at $7.70-1/4 a bushel.
The most-active soybean contract Sv1 ended up 15-3/4 cents at $14.78-1/4 a bushel.
Chicago wheat futures eased after Sovecon agriculture consultancy raised its forecast for Russia’s July-June wheat exports by 300,000 tonnes to a new record high of 42.6 million tonnes on Wednesday.
But a flurry of activity in the global export market helped to put a floor under wheat prices, traders said.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 settled down 6 cents at $9.30 a bushel.
– Additional reporting by Hallie Gu and Dominique Patton in Beijing and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris;
