Chicago | Reuters—Chicago wheat, corn and soybean futures regained ground on Thursday after Wednesday’s dramatic losses as investors covered short positions ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s supply and demand report set to be released on Friday.
Non-threatening weather in the U.S. Midwest as well as pressure from a sunny global crop outlook plunged many Chicago Board of Trade corn and soy contracts to lifetime lows on Wednesday.
“We saw a sharp sell-off yesterday and short covering today ahead of any potential surprises in tomorrow’s report,” Brian Basting, analyst at Advance Trading, said.
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Chicago soybean futures came under pressure on Thursday on a lack of Chinese demand for the U.S. oilseed while corn futures ticked higher on strong export sales data, analysts said.
CBOT corn Cv1 ended up 3-1/2 cents at $4.10-3/4 per bushel, and CBOT soybeans Sv1 settled up 3/4 cent at $10.67-3/4 per bushel after hitting a November 2020 low in the previous session.
The most active wheat contract Wv1 closed up 9-3/4 at $5.71-1/4 a bushel.
Traders also noted that some buyers may have taken advantage of the previous day’s record low crop prices to stock up on grains and oilseeds, although no new flash sales were reported.
The USDA reported export sales of wheat landed below a range of trade expectations, old-crop corn export sales met expectations and old-crop soybean export sales fell on the low end of estimates.
Brazilian crop agency Conab raised its estimate of the country’s total 2023/24 corn crop and trimmed its estimate of the country’s 2023/24 soybean crop on Thursday.
Traders continued to monitor weather charts in the U.S. Midwest as the corn and soy crop enter key growing stages.
In the United States, rapid wheat harvest progress, tepid demand and beneficial rain across the U.S. Midwest have helped the crops and weighed on futures.
“The rain was just what the doctor ordered,” Basting said.
—Additional reporting for Reuters by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Bernadette Christina in Jakarta
