Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rose on Monday, hitting nine-month highs on worries about crop losses in top-exporter Russia after multiple nights of frosty weather in key regions.
Soybean and corn futures followed on concerns over U.S. corn planting progress and flooding in southern Brazil.
Chicago Board of Trade most-active wheat WN24 rose 23-1/2 cents to $6.87 a bushel, hitting highs not seen since Aug. 14. The most-active contract Wv1 reached its highest price since July 31 on a continuous chart.
Soybeans SN24 notched up 1/2 cent to 12.19-1/2 a bushel, while corn CN24 rose 2-3/4 cents to 4.72-1/2 a bushel.
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Frosts again hit southern Russia’s grain belts over the weekend, and Russia’s IKAR agricultural consultancy cut its forecast for Russia’s wheat crop to 86 million metric tons from 91 million tons previously. It cut wheat exports to 47 million metric tons from 50.5 million tons.
For U.S. winter wheat, 50 per cent of the crop is in good to excellent condition, steady from last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report. Analysts had expected 51 per cent.
In the soybean market, futures took additional support from soyoil, said Karl Setzer of Consus Ag Consulting.
“Some buying in the crude complex is spilling over into the soy complex,” he said.
Following severe flooding Brazil’s Rio Grande do Sul state, consultancy Pátria Agronegócios estimated the country’s 2023/2024 soybean crop at 142.82 million tons versus 143.18 million tons in previous forecast. The firm estimated soybean losses related to recent floods at 2.4 million tons.
Randy Place, analyst with the Hightower Report, said chatter that the Biden administration may add tariffs to Chinese used cooking oil led to some short covering in soybeans. Used cooking oil imports can be a substitute for U.S. soyoil to make renewable fuel.
The USDA said U.S. soybean planting is 35 per cent complete, above the five-year average of 34 per cent. After farmers faced some rain delays, the agency said 49 per cent of U.S. corn was planted, behind the 54 per cent average.
—Additional reporting for Reuters by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Peter Hobson in Canberra
