US soyabean futures fell about 2% on Monday and corn fell more than 1% as concern over the economic fallout from the coronavirus and a crash in crude oil prices pushed equities and other commodities sharply lower. But wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade turned higher, bucking the trend, drawing support from short-covering and profit-taking, analysts said.
As of 12:45 p.m. CDT (1745 GMT), CBOT May soyabeans were down 18-1/4 cents or 2% at $8.73 per bushel after hitting $8.67, the contract's lowest since May 13, 2019. CBOT soyaoil futures fell more than 3% and all contract months set life-of-contract lows in sympathy with the drop in crude oil. Soyaoil is the main US feedstock for biodiesel fuel.
Global equity markets plunged and crude oil prices tumbled by as much as a third after Saudi Arabia launched a price war against Russia, sending investors already spooked by the coronavirus outbreak fleeing for the safety of bonds and the Japanese yen. Grains and soya followed, but declines were not as sharp as those on Wall Street.
CBOT May corn was down 5 cents at $3.71 per bushel while May wheat was higher, rising 4-1/2 cents to $5.20-1/4 a bushel. However, other background factors remained bearish, with the market still awaiting large, new Chinese purchases of US soyabeans and grains after January's Phase 1 trade deal between the countries.
The US Department of Agriculture confirmed a relatively modest sale of US soyabeans, saying private exporters sold 123,500 tonnes of the oilseed to unknown destinations.