Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade soybean, corn and wheat futures rose on Monday on signs of progress towards the end of a record-long U.S. government shutdown, along with expectations of a revival of U.S. soybean exports to China, analysts said.
Market players were also adjusting positions ahead of crop supply/demand reports due on Friday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that will include the agency’s first U.S. and global crop estimates since mid-September.
January soybean futures SF26 closed up 13 cents at $11.30 per bushel. December corn CZ25 settled up 2-1/2 cents at $4.29-3/4 a bushel and December wheat WX25 rose 8 cents to close at $5.35-3/4 a bushel.
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Wall Street’s main indexes rose as risk appetite increased on hopes that the U.S. government shutdown would end soon, and grain markets followed suit. The U.S. Senate moved forward on Sunday on a measure to end the shutdown, now in its 41st day.
“It’s euphoric buying, with (expectations of) the government opening sooner rather than later,” said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based U.S. Commodities.
Fears that the USDA might lower its yield estimates for the U.S. corn and soybean harvests in its crop reports on Friday added support, Roose said. A few private firms, including StoneX and S&P Global Commodity Insights, have projected U.S. corn yield estimates that are below the USDA’s mid-September estimate of 186.7 bushels per acre.
Optimism about a resumption of U.S. soybean sales to China also lent support. After tumbling on Thursday, when the absence of confirmed Chinese purchases of U.S. soy dented hopes generated by an end-October trade truce, Chicago soybeans regained ground on Friday when China announced it would restore soybean import licences for three U.S. firms.
“Even if the purchases of U.S. soybeans by China are slow to develop, the market was reassured by observing that the exporters CHS, Louis Dreyfus and EGT had their authorization (restored),” Argus analysts said in a note.
However, weekly export inspections data released by the USDA on Monday showed no sign of U.S. grains or oilseeds shipped to China in the week ended November 6.
Cereal markets rose but remained capped by supplies in major exporting countries, with the U.S. corn harvest winding down, wheat harvesting getting going in Argentina and Australia, and wheat exports from Russia accelerating.
— Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore and Gus Trompiz in Paris.
