CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures soared on Friday to their highest price since October, and analysts said support from blistering cold weather in the Black Sea and US Plains regions prompted short covering.
Corn and soy futures also ticked up as traders monitored parched weather in Argentina, a major producer of both crops.
Grain and soy futures were broadly supported by an easing dollar and investor relief that US President Donald Trump did not immediately impose reciprocal tariffs globally, analysts said.
Trump’s decision to order his economics team to prepare plans for reciprocal tariffs was seen as leaving scope for negotiations, though traders remained wary of a possible trade war and retaliation against US agricultural exports.
“The fact that he’s giving plenty of negotiating time is friendly for markets,” said Randy Place, analyst at Hightower Report. Most-active CBOT wheat settled up 22-1/4 cents at $6 per bushel, reaching a high of $6.02-3/4 per bushel. The most-active corn contract settled up 2-3/4 cents at $4.96-1/4 per bushel, and CBOT soybeans settled up 6 cents at $10.36 per bushel.
Cold temperatures in Russian and US hard red winter wheat areas could cause freeze damage to dormant crops that will miss out on a layer of insulating snow cover, traders said. Russia is the world’s biggest wheat exporter.
In France, the soft wheat crop has already worsened sharply since December, data from farm office FranceAgriMer showed. Supply concerns have prompted commodity funds, which hold a large net short position in wheat, to cover their short positions, traders said.
Corn and wheat markets were also buoyed by brisk weekly US exports, though wheat import tenders this week from Algeria and Saudi Arabia were expected to show continued competition for business from the Black Sea region.
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