Chicago | Reuters — U.S. soybean futures rose on Wednesday on expectations that robust demand from both the domestic and export sectors will keep supplies tight until harvest in the fall, traders said.
Corn futures were firm on support from strength in the cash market while wheat ended in positive territory after trading both sides of unchanged.
The most-active Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures contract fell just short of the 10-year high hit in February, with gains in the crude oil market adding to the bullish tone.
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“Soybean exports have been a bit disappointing lately, but we expect that to change as the summer progresses and the world runs out of supplies and is forced to come the U.S.,” Tomm Pfitzenmaier, analyst for Summit Commodity Brokerage, said in a note to clients. “At the same time U.S. farmers are either tight holders of soybeans or just flat out don’t have any to sell.”
CBOT July soybean futures settled up 11-3/4 cents a bushel at $17.40. Prices peaked at $17.58, just 1-1/4 cents lower than February’s high (all figures US$).
CBOT July corn was up 6-1/2 cents at $7.64-1/2 a bushel and CBOT July soft red winter wheat gained three cents to $10.74-3/4 a bushel.
Wheat has fluctuated throughout the week, jumping five per cent on Monday before falling back nearly two per cent on Tuesday, as traders assessed news about potential exports from Ukraine.
“Volatility remains high in a market still driven by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict,” consultancy Agritel said.
Turkish efforts to ease a global food crisis by negotiating safe passage for grain stuck in Black Sea ports met resistance as Ukraine said Russia was imposing unreasonable conditions and the Kremlin said free shipment depended on an end to sanctions.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry said Russian assurances it would not take advantage of a port reopening for its military campaign were “empty words.”
— Reporting for Reuters by Mark Weinraub in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
