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More dry weather in Argentina threatens soy, corn
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Concern old snap in U.S. could damage wheat
HAMBURG, Jan 30 (Reuters) - Chicago soybeans and corn rose on Monday on concern that drought-damaged crops in Argentina were facing more dry weather.
Wheat rose as a cold snap in U.S. grain belts generated concern about possible crop damage, while potential escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war also underpinned prices.
Chicago Board of Trade most-active soybeans rose 1.2% to $15.27-3/4 a bushel at 1142 GMT. Wheat rose 0.6% to $7.55 a bushel, corn rose 0.4% to $6.86-1/4 a bushel.
Drought in recent months has damaged soybean and corn crops in Argentina and delayed plantings. Recent rain prevented more cuts to harvest forecasts, but dryness is again forecast in the coming week.
“Soybeans and corn are supported today by forecasts of dryer weather in Argentina with some spillover support also seen for wheat,” said Matt Ammermann, StoneX commodity risk manager. “The rain in the past week or so is not being viewed as enough for Argentine crops and some in the market fear further drought damage to soybeans and corn.”
“China is also back at work following the Lunar New Year holidays with hope there could be new demand for U.S. soybeans and corn.”
Bitterly cold weather in Canada is forecast to move south this week to a wide region in the U.S. Plains grain belts.
“Wheat is also seeing some support from forecasts of very cold weather in the U.S. Plains this week," Ammermann said. "But as we have seen in the past, actual damage to wheat caused by brief cold spells can be relatively modest when the harvest arrives.”
Wheat was also underpinned by concerns war will cut Ukraine’s harvests, and that Russia's crop also would fall below expectations.
Some new demand was visible, with Algeria issuing a tender for a nominal 50,000 tonnes of durum wheat. (Reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg, additional reporting by Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila; editing by Jason Neely)
