CHICAGO: US wheat futures rose to a three-week high on Wednesday, rallying after early declines on profit taking, as buyers emerged due to worries about tightening global supplies, the crisis in Ukraine and drought in the US Plains, analysts said.
Corn futures turned higher on fears of US planting delays and uncertain production prospects in Ukraine, and soybeans also bounced, shaking off signs of slowing demand from top global buyer China.
As of 12:35 p.m. CDT (1735 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade May wheat was up 10-3/4 cents at $11.14-1/2 per bushel after reaching $11.24-1/4, the contract’s highest since March 23.
CBOT May corn was up 2-1/4 cents at $7.78-1/2 a bushel while December corn, representing to 2022 harvest, was up 3-3/4 cents at $7.34-3/4 after notching a life-of-contract high at $7.36. May soybeans were up 5-1/4 cents at $16.75-1/2.
CBOT wheat rebounded after the May contract failed to match Tuesday’s low of $10.75 a bushel, and the focus returned to supportive fundamental factors including conflict between Russia and Ukraine, both major world grain exporters.
“When you look at the dry weather in the Great Plains and the war of attrition going on in Ukraine ... the profit-taking did not last too long.
All we did was test support, and it held,” said Jack Scoville with the Price Futures Group in Chicago.
Wheat export business picked up with Egypt buying 350,000 tonnes at an international tender, including French, Bulgarian and Russian-origin grain, and Algeria booked about 120,000 tonnes of optional-origin milling wheat.
Corn futures fell early as traders booked profits ahead of a three-day holiday weekend, with US markets closed on Friday. But worries about a slow start to planting in the Midwest helped lift values.
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