PARIS/CANBERRA: Chicago corn, wheat soybean futures extended gains on Thursday as a slide in the dollar and delays to some US and European Union tariffs eased concerns about US crop exports.
The rise was moderate, however, with a continuing tariff standoff between Washington and Beijing hanging over commodity markets.
Grain traders are also waiting for a monthly supply and demand report from the US Department of Agriculture later on Thursday.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.5% at $10.18-1/4 a bushel by 1137 GMT.
CBOT corn rose 0.6% to $4.77 a bushel, after touching its highest since Feb. 28.
CBOT wheat was up 0.3% at $5.43-3/4 a bushel.
In a dramatic U-turn on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause for most of his hefty reciprocal duties unveiled last week that had sparked a financial markets rout.
“Now that Trump’s pushed back the larger tariffs, the market is less concerned that those countries will retaliate,” said Commonwealth Bank analyst Dennis Voznesenski.
Chicago soybeans had dropped to a four-month low at the start of the week as the US and China, its main soybean export market, upped tit-for-tat tariffs. While Washington and Beijing continue to ramp up tariffs against each other, the EU responded to Trump’s climbdown on other countries by announcing on Thursday a 90-day pause on counter-tariffs it had planned in stages from April 15.
That removes an immediate threat to US corn exports, which had been due to face a 25% EU tariff from Tuesday, and also eased concerns about an EU plan to set a similar duty on US soybeans in December.
“It’s bullish for US corn,” a European trader said.
A steep fall in the dollar index, as investors wrestled with the flurry of tariff news, also made US grains cheaper for export.
Grain markets will get an update on overseas demand from weekly US export sales figures at 1230 GMT, ahead of the USDA’s monthly world crop report at 1600 GMT.
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