Chicago | Reuters—Chicago soybean and corn futures rose on Thursday on short-covering and an uptick in export demand, though expectations for strong U.S. crop production limited gains, traders said.
Wheat futures also rose on relatively strong export sales but remained under pressure from a flood of cheap Black Sea exports.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade Sv1settled up 15-1/2 cents to $9.92-1/2 per bushel and corn Cv1settled up 5-1/4 cents to $3.96 per bushel. Wheat Wv1settled up 7-1/4 cents to $5.48-3/4 per bushel.
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U.S. corn and soybean export sales for the week ended Aug. 22 came in above analyst expectations for 2024/25 sales, indicating that low prices may have renewed demand, traders said.
“The only real news you have around today is on the demand side. Export sales for new crop ticked up, and that’s helped underpin the market,” Terry Linn, vice president of Linn & Associates, said.
Short-covering also lent support, following recent lows and ahead of the month’s end, traders said.
Market players have raised concerns that recent hot, dry weather in the Midwest will dent expectations of bumper U.S. corn and soy crops. However, rainfall and forecasts for milder weather have allayed concerns, traders said.
Uncertainty remains over whether the soybean crop will reach its full potential, expected to be a record, but rainfall has reduced dryness in many areas.
“It’s a wait-and-see approach,” Linn said.
—Additional reporting for Reuters by Naveen Thukral and Sybille de La Hamaide.
