Chicago | Reuters—Chicago wheat futures rose on Thursday as Russia declared a state of emergency in key grain-growing regions due to frosts, while soybeans and corn fell ahead of a monthly U.S. Department of Agriculture supply-and-demand report due on Friday.
Three of Russia’s key grain-growing areas declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, citing May frosts that government officials say damaged crops and will reduce this year’s harvest.
Those regions can expect another frosty night on Thursday, analysts said.
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) July wheat WN24 settled up 3-1/2 cents at $6.37-1/2 a bushel. Meanwhile, most-active July corn CN24 dipped 2 cents to $4.56-1/2 a bushel, while July soybeans SN24 ended the session down 19-1/4 cents at $12.08-1/2 a bushel.
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The dip in soybeans came as investors expected a strong global supply of the crop to be indicated in Friday’s USDA numbers, said Randy Place, analyst with the Hightower Report, keeping prices down.
“We’re going to have a burdensome carry-out,” he said.
Meanwhile, officials at Brazilian crop agency Emater said torrential rains in the country’s Rio Grande do Sul state had slowed the crop’s harvest over the last few days.
Roughly a fifth of the soy crop there remains unharvested, along with about 15 per cent of corn, according to preliminary data gathered by the crop agency’s regional offices.
Corn is expected to also have a burdensome carry-out, said Place, although to a lesser extent than soybeans, and he noted that Argentina’s Rosario grains exchange was cutting its harvest estimate for 2023/24 corn to 47.5 million metric tons from 50 million tons.
Officials with the exchange said the leafhopper plague has ruined around 20 per cent of the corn crop this season.
—Additional reporting for Reuters by Nigel Hunt in London and Mei Mei Chu in Beijing
