CANBERRA- Chicago soybean futures extended gains on Monday after last week’s three-year lows but plentiful supply from South America and weak US exports limited gains, with speculators still betting on lower prices.
Corn and wheat futures also rose, but with markets well supplied, both contracts were near their lowest since 2020.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.8 percent at $11.60 a bushel after dropping to $11.29 on Thursday, its lowest since November 2020.
CBOT corn rose 0.8 percent to $4.28-1/4 a bushel, having slid to $4.04 on Feb. 22, also the lowest since November 2020.
Wheat gained 0.3 percent to $5.59-1/2 a bushel but was near September’s three-year low of $5.40 after prices fell 3.2 percent on Friday.
A plentiful supply of soybeans from Brazil, corn from the United States and wheat from Russia have prompted speculators to build up huge short positions in all three CBOT contracts.
That has driven prices lower but left the markets vulnerable to bouts of short covering that accelerate upward price moves when they happen.
Brokers StoneX on Friday raised their forecast for Brazilian soybean production — the harvest of which is underway — to 151.5 million metric tons but consultants AgResource dropped theirs to 143.92 million metric tons. – Reuters