Wheat recoups losses, corn firms as oil market recovers

SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat rose on Thursday, rebounding from deep losses in the last session, while corn ticked higher on bargain-buying and as oil firmed amid uncertainty over Middle Eastern supplies despite a US-Iran ceasefire.

Soybeans were almost flat.

“In the near term, we expect prices to ease as the US-Iran ceasefire removes the conflict premium that had been supporting the broader agricultural complex and, critically, alleviating concerns around nitrogen fertilizer supply disruptions,” BMI said in a note.

“However, significant risks remain around the fragility of the agreement and the pace at which trade flows through the Strait of Hormuz normalize.”

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) added 0.6% to $5.83-3/4 a bushel, as of 0335 GMT.

Soybeans gained half a cent at 11.62-1/2 a bushel while corn rose 0.3% to $4.48-1/2 a bushel.

Oil prices rose on investors’ concerns that supply from the key Middle East producing region may not fully resume amid doubts that the two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran will hold, and as the crucial Strait of Hormuz remains restricted.

Agricultural markets fell on Wednesday, led by wheat, as crude oil fell below $100 a barrel.

Gains in the wheat market are likely to be capped by improving US crop prospects, with rains expected in the Plains this week and rising wheat output forecasts for Russia, the world’s top exporter.

The decline in soybeans was limited by hopes that a mid-May meeting between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could lead to renewed US soybean export sales to China, by far the world’s largest buyer of the oilseed.

Argentina’s 2025/26 corn harvest should reach a record 67 million metric tons, the Rosario grains exchange said on Wednesday, raising its estimate from a prior 62 million tons thanks to farmers planting more fields with the crop than originally expected.