US corn, soyabean and wheat futures rose for the fourth day in a row in Monday, with investors scrambling to cover bearish bets they have made on the agricultural sector in recent months, traders said. "Grain futures are higher across the board this morning, with Friday's rally attracting follow-through buying amid signs commodities are regaining favour after being shunned by investors over the past year," Bryce Knorr, senior grain market analyst at Farm Futures, said in a note to clients.
Commodity Futures Trading Commission data released on Friday afternoon showed that speculators have raised their net short position in all three commodities to the largest on record. At 10:27 am. CST (1627 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat for May delivery was up 7-1/2 cents at $4.68-1/4 a bushel, the highest for the most actively traded contract since February 18.
Wheat received additional support from some concerns the US Plains' crop emerging from dormancy earlier than usual due to warm temperatures. The advanced development leaves wheat in that key growing area vulnerable to damage if the weather turns cold again. Dry conditions in parts of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas also added strength to the wheat market. "The continued very warm and dry conditions will further reduce soil moisture and will increase stress on wheat as spring growth accelerates," said Don Keeney, senior agricultural meteorologist for MDA Weather Services.
CBOT May corn was up 2-1/2 cents at $3.60-3/4 a bushel while CBOT May soyabeans were 6-3/4 cents higher at $8.85-1/4 a bushel. Slow movement of crops out of Argentina and Brazil due to rain in those key exporting countries added to the strength in both corn and soyabeans. Some traders said that the recent price declines improved prospects for US supplies on the export market.
The US Agriculture Department said on Monday morning that weekly corn export inspections rose to a better-than-expected 953,062 tonnes in the latest reporting week. Soyabean export inspections rose to 1.067 million tonnes, near the high end of market forecasts.
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