CHICAGO, Dec 26 (Reuters) – U.S. soybean futures rose about 1% on Thursday and soymeal futures touched a two-month high as worries about dry weather in parts of Argentina prompted speculators to exit short positions ahead of the new year, analysts said.
Wheat firmed on short-covering and news of a massive wheat purchase by Algeria’s state grains agency, while corn futures notched a six-month top, following the firm trend. Trade was light following Wednesday’s Christmas holiday.
As of 12:20 p.m. CST (1820 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) March soybean futures were up 15-1/4 cents, or 1.5%, at $9.96-1/2 per bushel and CBOT March soymeal was up $12.40, or 4.1%, at $314 per short ton after reaching $314.30, its highest since Oct. 24.
CBOT March wheat was up 7-1/4 cents at $5.42 a bushel and March corn was up 4 cents at $4.52-1/2 a bushel after reaching $4.53-3/4, the highest on a continuous chart of the most-active contract since June.
Soymeal posted the biggest percentage advance. Commodity funds held a record-large net short position in soymeal futures as of mid-December, leaving the market prone to short-covering rallies ahead of the year’s end.
Outlooks for stressful dry weather for crops in Argentina, the world’s biggest exporter of soymeal and soyoil, lent support.
“They are looking at two weeks of dryness,” said Tom Fritz, a partner at Chicago-based EFG Group. “It’s a excuse for year-end profit taking,” Fritz said.
Wheat climbed on export news. Algeria’s state grains agency OAIC is believed to have purchased a massive 1.17 million metric tons of milling wheat in an international tender this week, European traders said.
Expectations of tightening supplies from top global wheat supplier Russia lent support. Russia’s IKAR agricultural consultancy projected 2025/26 wheat exports at 41 million metric tons, down from 43.5 million tons expected in the current season.
Corn futures hit multi-month highs on spillover strength and expectations that the U.S. Department of Agriculture may further trim its forecast of U.S. corn inventories in its next monthly supply/demand report on Jan. 10, following a cut in its Dec. 10 report.
“They (traders) are already looking to the January report where they think … the corn carry-out is going to continue to come down,” Fritz said.
Meanwhile, the USDA is slated to issue weekly U.S. grain and soy export sales data on Friday, one day later than usual due to the Christmas holiday.
(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen;)
