PARIS/SINGAPORE: Chicago grain futures fell on Thursday, in line with a sharp fall in crude prices, on hopes of a potential truce between the US and Iran, while forecasts of rain in parched US areas added further pressure on wheat.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) lost 0.8 percent to USD6.12-1/2 a bushel, as of 0915 GMT. Soybeans slipped 0.2 percent to USD 11.92-3/4 a bushel and corn fell 0.5 percent to USD4.66-1/4 a bushel.
Soybeans slid to their lowest since April 28 while corn hit its weakest since April 27.
Oil prices slid around 2 percent to below USD100 a barrel on renewed hopes for a US-Iran peace deal that could gradually ease supply disruptions caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
“If the weakness in energy continues, grains may still have more downside ahead,” CM Navigator analyst Donatas Jankauskas said.
Tehran said it was reviewing Washington’s peace proposal that sources said would formally end the war while leaving unresolved the key US demands that Iran suspend its nuclear programme and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. The war has driven fluctuations in oil prices, strongly influencing agricultural markets, as corn and soybean oils are widely used for the production of alternative fuels.
Comments