Corn rises on firmer oil but ethanol slump caps gains, wheat follows
- Wheat futures followed the trend but were capped by ongoing concern of the economic impact of the coronavirus spread and improved US crop ratings.
- Wheat rose 0.8pc to $5.53-3/4 a bushel, having closed down 1.2pc on Tuesday and soybeans added 0.6pc to $8.59-1/2 a bushel.
Wheat futures followed the trend but were capped by ongoing concern of the economic impact of the coronavirus spread and improved US crop ratings.
"Looks like the US is heading for a bumper wheat crop," said one Singapore-based trader. "At the same time there is uncertainty over demand destruction due to the coronavirus."
The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 0.5pc at $3.33-1/4 a bushel by 1054 GMT.
Wheat rose 0.8pc to $5.53-3/4 a bushel, having closed down 1.2pc on Tuesday and soybeans added 0.6pc to $8.59-1/2 a bushel.
Traders were also awaiting the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) April supply and demand report on Thursday.
Oil bounced back, lifted by hopes that a meeting between OPEC members and allied producers on Thursday will trigger output cuts to shore up prices that have crumbled amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But a drop in production of ethanol, which competes with mineral oil, weighed on prices.
A slew of US ethanol plants have shut down as fuel demand has collapsed due to the coronavirus outbreak, and meatpackers have been hit by a worrying side-effect: less carbon dioxide is now available to chill beef, poultry and pork.
French soft wheat sowing for the 2020, harvest will drop 7.5pc from last year to a 17-year low of 4.6 million hectares after adverse autumn weather, the farm ministry said on Tuesday.
The US Department of Agriculture said on Monday that 62pc of US winter wheat crops were in good-to-excellent condition, up from 60pc this time last year.
Analysts expected only 56pc of winter wheat to be good-to-excellent.
Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn, soybeans and soyoil futures contracts, and net sellers of wheat and soymeal futures contracts on Tuesday, traders said.