BEIJING: Chicago soybean and corn ticked up on Wednesday, but remained near their lowest levels since 2020, as changing U.S weather patterns eased fears over hot weather conditions threatening crop yields.
Wheat dropped despite concerns over poor yields in France, the European Union’s biggest grain producer.
“Hot weather was expected across much of the Corn Belt in late July and early August may be less severe than initially forecast, causing CBOT grains to retreat,” said Cheang Kang Wei, assistant vice president at StoneX in Singapore.
A U.S court ruling last week against the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to deny small oil refiners temporary waivers from the nation’s biofuels blending programme also weighed on the market.
It could potentially lower the blending mandate and hamper demand for upstream biofuel feedstocks, including corn and soybean oil, Cheang said.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) rose 0.39% at $10.25-2/8 a bushel as of 0408 GMT, hovering around its lowest levels since October 2020.
Corn edged up 0.19% to $4.05-6/8 a bushel, while Wheat fell 0.33% to $5.22 a bushel, both trading near their lowest levels since 2020.
France’s main wheat crop may only reach 26 million metric tons this year, a level not seen since the 1980s, as harvest results confirm a plunge in yields following months of heavy rain, producers’ group AGPB said on Tuesday.
China June soy imports from Brazil rise 2%
Pressuring wheat, Russian agriculture agency Sovecon on Friday raised its 2024 crop forecast in the world’s largest exporter to 84.7 million tons from 84.2 million tons.
Tunisia’s state grains agency is believed to have purchased about 125,000 tons of soft milling wheat and about 50,000 tons of durum in an international tender on Tuesday, European traders said.
Jordan’s state grains buyer purchased about 50,000 tons of hard milling wheat to be sourced from optional origins in an international tender on Tuesday, traders said.
Meanwhile, China’s state grains stockpiler Sinograin said it will continue to increase the scale of domestic wheat storage in main producing areas in 2024.