US grain and soyabean futures rose on Wednesday as a slide in the dollar lifted commodity markets, pushing corn to its highest price in seven weeks. The dollar's decline to a three-year low prompted corn and wheat traders to buy back previously sold positions, brokers said, after speculators built up short positions in the face of massive global grain inventories. Stockpiles have increased from years of bumper US harvests, knocking prices down 50 percent from six years ago.
Weakness in the US dollar is often considered supportive for grains markets because it makes US crops more attractive to global buyers. The most-active corn contract at the Chicago Board of Trade was up 3-3/4 cents to $3.55 a bushel by 11 am Central, after touching its highest price since December 5. CBOT wheat jumped 10-1/4 cents to $4.31-3/4 a bushel, while soyabeans were up 2-1/2 cents to $9.88-3/4 a bushel.
The gains encouraged farmers to sell corn they had in storage, merchants said. In demand news, private exporters struck deals to sell 125,000 tonnes of US corn to unknown buyers and separately to sell 132,000 tonnes of US soyabean cake and meal to the Philippines, according to the US Department of Agriculture.
A group of importers in the Philippines also bought soyameal from Argentina in a tender, European traders said. Concerns about drought in parts of Argentina, the world's third-largest soyabean producer and largest exporter of soyameal and soyaoil, helped support corn and soyabean prices, traders said. The dryness has fueled worries that lost plantings and yield damage could potentially dent global supplies.
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