Reuters — Chicago corn futures rose on Wednesday, rebounding from losses a day earlier, as ethanol feedstock enjoyed a boost from a rise in energy prices that also lifted soyoil futures, analysts said.
Wheat futures fell at the Chicago Board of Trade, and K.C. hard red winter wheat futures hit a two-year low.
The most-active CBOT corn contract settled up 3-1/2 cents at $4.83-1/4 a bushel, having climbed at one point to $4.86-3/4, its highest price since Sept. 12 (all figures US$). Corn futures have risen about three per cent since Sept. 18, when they settled at the lowest point since December 2020.
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“I think it’s largely due to strength in energy,” said Mark Soderberg, a senior agriculture markets analyst with ADM Investor Services in Chicago. Oil prices surged three per cent to the highest settlement in 2023.
Soderberg added that rising energy prices similarly lifted soybean oil futures, which climbed about 0.9 per cent on Wednesday, while soymeal futures fell almost 0.9 per cent.
“In the bean complex, oil has taken on the leadership,” he said.
Outside of fluctuations in the energy markets, Soderberg said there was little to move corn or soybean futures ahead of a closely watched U.S. Department of Agriculture report on domestic grain stocks due on Friday.
“It’s a little bit of a technical trade,” said Joe Davis, director of commodity sales at Futures International in Chicago.
CBOT November soybean futures settled up 1/2-cent at $13.03-1/4 a bushel, just below the 100-day moving average, a technical level the oilseed has repeatedly tested since dipping below that mark on Sept. 21.
CBOT wheat ended down 9-1/2 cents to $5.79-1/2 a bushel as traders said Bulgarian and Romanian grain underbid Russian offers in an Egyptian wheat tender.
The most-active K.C. hard red winter wheat contract fell to a two-year low and closed down 16 cents at $6.94-1/2 a bushel. December Minneapolis spring wheat settled at a life-of-contract low.
— Zachary Goelman is a Reuters multimedia reporter in New York City.
