Insights and Stories on Coronavirus

Mar. 25, 2020 at 7:05 pm CDT

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures surged on Wednesday, with the May contract on the Chicago Board of Trade hitting a two-month high on a mix of technical buying and global demand for bread as the coronavirus prompts consumer stockpiling, analysts said. Corn futures closed modestly higher while soybean […]

By Julie Ingwersen

Mar. 25, 2020 at 6:59 pm CDT

Chicago | Reuters — Benchmark June live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange closed lower on Wednesday for the first time in five sessions as the market paused after a sharp rally driven by soaring retail beef prices. Wholesale beef prices jumped and packer profit margins skyrocketed this week […]

By Julie Ingwersen

Mar. 23, 2020 at 5:27 pm CDT

Chicago | Reuters — U.S. wheat futures surged nearly four per cent on Monday and hit a one-month high, buoyed by strong buying by domestic flour millers as consumers stockpile bread, and signs of a pick-up in global export business, traders said. Soybeans rose on expectations of rising demand for […]

By Julie Ingwersen

Mar. 23, 2020 at 8:09 am CDT

Singapore | Reuters — Lockdowns and panic food buying due to the coronavirus pandemic could ignite world food inflation even though there are ample supplies of staple grains and oilseeds in key exporting nations, a senior economist at FAO and agricultural analysts said. The world’s richest nations poured unprecedented aid […]

By Naveen Thukral

Mar. 20, 2020 at 7:17 pm CDT

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean and wheat futures rose on Friday, supported by a pick-up in Chinese demand for U.S. commodities, traders said. But corn closed lower, giving up early gains with traders shrugging off a massive sale to China to focus on expectations for a […]

By Mark Weinraub