Chicago | Reuters—Chicago soybean futures rebounded on technical buying on Thursday after plunging to a four-year low, while wheat fell to lifetime lows as a strong dollar added to concerns about competition from other exporting zones, traders said.
Corn prices were volatile, buffeted by weakness in wheat and a stronger dollar.
Soybeans have dropped this week under pressure from expectations of a bumper harvest in Brazil, weak Chinese demand for U.S. soy and a slide in soy oil prices amid doubts over U.S. biofuel policy.
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The most-active soybean contract Sv1 on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) settled up 11-1/4 cents at $9.63 a bushel after falling to $9.45-1/4, a contract low and its lowest on a continuous chart since Sept. 1, 2020.
“It’s a technical bounce over in soybeans,” said Jason Snow, vice president of sales at Futures International. “There’s a lack of demand from China and the Brazil crop is about to be harvested.”
Consultants are predicting a record Brazilian soybean crop, and the imminent South American harvest will likely add further pressure to the market.
Another headwind developed on Wednesday when the U.S. dollar index shot to a two-year peak after the Federal Reserve signaled a slower pace of interest rate cuts in 2025.
A stronger dollar makes U.S. crops less competitive overseas against other crop exporters such as Brazil and Russia. The dollar on Thursday held on to most of its gains from Wednesday.
CBOT corn Cv1ended 3-1/2 cents higher at $4.40-3/4 a bushel. Wheat Wv1 settled down 8-1/4 cents at $5.33 a bushel, with all front-month contracts hitting lifetime lows.
Large wheat crops being harvested in Argentina and Australia have tempered concerns about dwindling supply of Russian wheat.
Corn, soybean and wheat export sales were in line with analysts’ average expectations, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported Thursday morning.
—Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra
