Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures climbed to their highest level since October on Thursday as cold weather stoked concerns about potential crop damage in the Black Sea region, analysts said.
Short covering by commodity funds helped propel prices higher, they said, while corn and soy futures were nearly flat.
Traders watched conditions for wheat crops in Russia and Ukraine because they are major global suppliers. Colder weather projected from next week rekindled worries over potential losses, they said, with wheat seen vulnerable after a mild winter so far.
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Commodity funds recently held a net short position in CBOT wheat, betting that prices will fall, and added to bets that corn and soy prices will rise.
“Funds are long corn and soybeans, and wheat is trying to catch up,” said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting.
“Typically, you don’t see them short one complex and long the other two, so when there’s buying it gravitates toward that one.”
Most-active CBOT March wheat was up 15-1/2 cents at $5.87-3/4 a bushel.
CBOT corn futures edged up two cents in the March contract at $4.95-1/4 a bushel, and March soybeans crept 3-1/2 cents higher to $10.60-1/2 a bushel.
On Wednesday, corn touched its highest price since October 2023 and soybeans climbed to their highest level since July 2024.
Grain markets have been buoyed this week by the suspension of planned U.S. tariffs against Canada and Mexico and by measured Chinese counter-tariffs that did not include crops.
Traders have been concerned that tariffs could spark retaliatory moves against U.S. grain, hurting sales to major importers like China and Mexico.
President Donald Trump’s nominee for U.S. trade representative, Jamieson Greer, said he will review China’s compliance with a “Phase 1” trade deal signed during Trump’s first term in which Beijing agreed to buy more American farm products. China has not lived up to the agreement, and it will be difficult to enforce, analysts said.
“How do you force an importer to buy more when they don’t need it?” Setzer said.
