Corn, wheat, and soybean futures continued to press higher on Thursday, with nearby corn closing at a 10-month high.
Corn moved higher amid Iran attacks on regional energy infrastructure and China’s tightening of fertilizer exports raising fresh concern about soaring input costs ahead of the U.S. planting season. U.S. crude oil initially surged higher today but fell back to small losses, while Brent crude maintained its gains. The USDA’s weekly export sales report this morning showed bookings of U.S. old-crop corn for the week ended March 12 at 1.17 million tonnes, on the low side of trade expectations. May gained 6 ½ cents to $4.69 ¾, and December was 4 ¾ cents higher at $4.94 ½.
Soybeans were mainly supported by a sharp rally in soybean meal that outweighed weakness in soybean oil. The market also continued to draw underlying support from ongoing disruption to Brazilian soybean shipments to China, where tighter phytosanitary checks and higher freight costs have slowed trade and could briefly open more room for U.S. supplies. Weekly export sales for old-crop soybeans were considered disappointing at 298,208 tonnes, a marketing year low. May beans added 6 ¾ cents to $11.68 ½, and November was up 4 ¾ cents at $11.46 ¼.
Wheat gained on dry weather concerns in the U.S. Plains and by another round of geopolitical buying tied to the Middle East war. Weekly export sales for wheat were mixed, with old-crop bookings of 189,887 tonnes below trade estimates, but new-crop bookings of just over 212,000 tonnes above. May Chicago gained 3 ¾ cents to $6.08, and May Kansas City was 1 ¼ cents higher at $6.29 ¼. was up 6 cents at $6.33 ¾, and May Minneapolis closed 6 ½ cents higher at $6.43 ¾.
