SINGAPORE: Chicago corn futures edged higher on Monday amid expectations of supply concerns, after a historic drought affected the production of the crop in the world’s third-biggest exporter Argentina.
Soybean and wheat futures both posted losses.
Corn futures gained 1.0% to $6.10 a bushel, as of 0401 GMT.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.3% at $13.82-3/4 a bushel and wheat lost 1.2% to $6.22-1/2 a bushel.
Argentina’s main grains port is seeing the lowest number of trucks with soy and corn in at least 22 years, the Rosario grains exchange said on Friday, after a historic drought battered production of the two key crops.
On wheat, as in other grain markets, the current cool and wet pattern in the US Midwest has increased the prospect of better conditions, but it is unlikely the crop would improve dramatically improve, said a note from commodities research firm Hightower.
While the harvest in central China’s Henan province has been completed, the impact of severe flooding is likely to bring down production estimates when the grain is processed, the note added.
Russia is still not satisfied with how a Black Sea grain deal is being implemented, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said on Saturday after meeting senior UN trade officials a day earlier, the TASS news agency reported.
Russia has threatened to walk away from the grain deal on July 17 if its demands are not met.
A Russian wheat supplier that sold a 55,000-metric ton cargo to Egypt is “committed” to delivering it but could look to source the grain from another country, an Egyptian minister said on Saturday amid confusion about a minimum price imposed by Russia.
The US Department of Agriculture confirmed private sales of 197,000 metric tons of US soybeans for shipment to unknown destinations in the 2022/23 marketing year.
Commodity funds were net buyers of Chicago Board of Trade soybean, soyoil and wheat futures contracts on Friday, and net sellers of CBOT corn and soymeal futures, traders said.