U.S. grains: Corn, soy, wheat futures rise as dollar sags; crop yields eyed

Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Board of Trade corn futures hit their highest in more than two months on Tuesday, buoyed by a weaker dollar and uncertainty about the size of the U.S. crop, analysts said.

Soybeans drew support from optimism about U.S. trade talks with China, the world’s largest soy buyer, given news that U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will speak by phone on Friday.

Wheat followed the firm trend as signs of export demand lent support.

CBOT December corn CZ25 settled up 6-1/4 cents at $4.29-1/2 per bushel after touching $4.31-1/4, the contract’s highest since July 3. November soybeans SX25 ended up 7 cents at $10.49-3/4 a bushel and CBOT December wheat WZ25 finished up 9 cents at $5.34 a bushel.

Declines in the dollar set the tone, making U.S. grains more competitive in the global marketplace. The greenback fell across the board as investors anticipated the U.S. Federal Reserve will kick off a series of interest rate cuts on Wednesday.

Market players were also monitoring early field reports from the start of the U.S. harvest. The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week projected a record-large corn crop, but anecdotally, some early-harvested crops are showing the effects of dry weather and disease, said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based U.S. Commodities.

“Yields are under what the government is saying and under what the producer thought,” Roose said. “The early thinking is that the crop is getting smaller, not bigger,” Roose said.

The USDA said in a weekly progress report on Monday that U.S. farmers had harvested 7 per cent of the corn crop and 5 per cent of the soybean crop.

The soybean market drew comfort from hopes of progress in U.S.-Chinese trade talks. China has so far avoided U.S. supplies for the 2025/26 crop year as the countries remain locked in a trade dispute.

Meanwhile, soyoil futures BOv1 climbed on news of a Trump administration proposal to address the reallocation of biofuel blending obligations that were recently waived for small oil refineries.

CBOT wheat rose for a fourth session, recovering from contract lows last week. Competitive pricing from U.S. suppliers and delays in shipments from the Black Sea have prompted Asian flour millers to ramp up imports of U.S. wheat, according to grain traders.

-Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson in Beijing