A roundup of key agricultural commodity markets for the week of Aug. 12-Aug. 16 by Dow Jones Newswires in Barcelona.


By Joe Hoppe


GRAINS & OILSEEDS:

The macro mood is positive for agricultural futures, as volatility in the market settles and one of the key agricultural currencies, the Brazilian real, recovers against the U.S. dollar, according to market watchers.

Stock markets have recovered and crude oil has risen after dropping early August to a six-month low, a tailwind for agricultural markets. The macroeconomic mood is better, with risk indices recovering toward the end of last week, Peak Trading analysts said in a note.

U.S. weather extended forecasts look excellent during an important farming window, with normal temperatures and the potential for heavy rains across much of the Corn Belt over the coming week. August is usually a bearish time of year for most grain, oilseed and meat markets, and bullish for palm oil, cotton and sugar.

This week, multiple important U.S. data points will be released, with the Consumer Price Index print on Wednesday, August's most important macroeconomic dataset, Peak Trading said. Softer inflation should lead to more dovish Federal Reserve monetary policy, which would lead the dollar lower and drive agricultural commodities higher, analysts added.

Chicago wheat futures were 1.75% lower at $5.33 a bushel on Monday, while corn was 0.6% lower at $3.925 a bushel. Soybean prices fell 0.8% to $9.94 a bushel.


SOFT COMMODITIES:

Cocoa futures trade lower on week, and prices remain volatile as liquidity in the market remains low. Prices have eased after reaching a peak of $11,722 a metric ton in April, but are still up by more than 70% this year on supply-side challenges in West Africa, where about 70% of global cocoa is produced.

Coffee on the other hand traded higher on week over concerns of shortages from major producers because poor weather conditions hit harvests.

The General Department of Vietnam Customs' trade volume estimates for July show coffee exports dropped nearly 30% on year to 77,000 tons, and cumulatively, coffee exports for the year to date have dropped by more than 12%, ING analysts say in a note.

Cocoa traded 3.3% lower at $7,146 a ton on Monday, while coffee rose 3.3% to $2.42 a pound. Sugar was down 0.3% to $0.18 a pound.


Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

08-12-24 1210ET