U.S. grains: Soybean futures recover from four-year low
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Detail from the front of the CBOT building in Chicago. (Vito Palmisano/iStock/Getty Images)
Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rose on short covering on Wednesday after nearing a four-year low this week on concerns about large supplies and lackluster U.S. export demand, analysts said.
The market set a one-week high as traders adjusted positions before the CBOT closes on Thursday for the U.S. Independence Day holiday.
Corn futures ended down and traded close to a four-year low, while wheat futures also declined.
“The soybean market is in the process of correcting its oversold condition,” said Tomm Pfitzenmaier, analyst for Summit Commodity Brokerage.
CBOT November soybeans SX24, which represent the crop that will be harvested this autumn, ended up 8-1/2 cents at $11.21-1/2 a bushel. On Monday, the most-active contract Sv1 slumped to $10.97, its lowest since 2020.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is slated to issue weekly U.S. grain and soy export sales data on Friday, one day late because of Thursday’s holiday. The agency said in a daily reporting system that exporters sold 110,100 metric tons of U.S. soy to unknown buyers.
U.S. farmers planted three per cent more soybeans this year, the USDA said in a report on Friday, fueling expectations for a bigger harvest. The crop’s critical growing period is typically in August, so traders remain uncertain about production.
“It will likely take some crop problems to entice buyers back into the market or to incentivize funds to cover their short positions in a major way,” Pfitzenmaier said.
Farmers are keeping grain and soy from last year’s harvests in storage due to low prices.
Most-active corn futures Cv1 hit a 2020 low on Friday as USDA increased its estimate for U.S. corn plantings from March by more than analysts expected. July is the key month for weather to affect the upcoming corn crop.
“There’s nothing out there right now that seems like it’s going to turn into a widespread crisis,” FuturesOne broker Matt Wiegand said.
CBOT December corn CZ24 ended down 1-3/4 cents at $4.19-1/2 a bushel. CBOT September wheat WU24 fell 7 cents to $5.74 a bushel.
Consultancy SovEcon raised its forecast for wheat output in top-supplier Russia.
—Additional reporting for Reuters by Peter Hobson in Canberra and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris
