Chicago grains regain ground with crude oil ahead of crop data

PARIS/SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat, corn and soybean futures rose on Thursday to recover from one-month lows a day earlier, as crude oil rebounded on doubts over whether a US-Iran ceasefire will alleviate energy supply disruption.

Grain participants were also adjusting positions before a monthly world crop report from the US Department of Agriculture later on Thursday.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 1.3percent at USD5.87-3/4 a bushel, as of 1110 GMT, recouping some of its 3percent loss on Wednesday. CBOT corn rose 0.5percent to USD4.49-1/4 a bushel while soybeans gained 0.3percent to USD11.65-1/4 a bushel.

Grain and oilseed markets slipped on Wednesday when crude oil plunged below USD100 a barrel following news of a two-week ceasefire between Washington and Tehran. But uncertainty over the fragile truce and when shipping may resume through the Strait of Hormuz pushed oil prices higher on Thursday.

“Crude oil is still in the driver’s seat,” Peak Trading Research said in a note, adding that a lower dollar was also lending support to US agricultural commodities.

Attention was turning to the USDA’s April crop report due at 1600 GMT, which may bring adjustments to the agency’s estimates of South American harvests.

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.

Soybean prices, which closed higher on Wednesday after reaching a six-week low, were finding support from hopes that a mid-May meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will lead to renewed US soybean export sales to China.

Grain markets are also shifting their focus towards the spring crop season.

The return of rain to parched US winter wheat zones has helped cap prices in the past week, while traders are also assessing prospects for corn and soybean planting amid rising fertiliser costs for farmers.