GRAINS-Soybeans climb to 3-week high, corn jumps on U.S. planting delays

By Naveen Thukral

SINGAPORE, April 3 (Reuters) – Chicago soybean futures jumped to a three-week peak on Monday, while corn rose to its highest in more than a month as planting delays in the United States and strong gains in oil prices buoyed agricultural commodities.

Wheat rose after closing largely flat in the previous session.

“U.S. conditions are not ideal for planting and we have bullish U.S. reports on planting intentions and stocks,” a Singapore-based grains trader said.

Corn Cv1 added 0.7% to $6.65-1/4 a bushel, having risen to its highest since Feb. 23 earlier in the day to $6.66-1/2 a bushel. Wheat Wv1 gained 0.9% to $6.98-3/4 a bushel.

Wet weather in the southern reaches of the U.S. crop belt and heavy snow in the Dakotas and Minnesota could delay plantings in the coming weeks.

Chicago soybean and corn futures were supported by bullish planting and stocks reports issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The government projected 2023 soybean plantings at 87.5 million acres, up only slightly from 2022 and near the low-end of estimates in a Reuters poll of analysts. The USDA also reported March 1 soy stocks at 1.685 billion bushels, down 13% from a year ago.

For corn, the agency pegged quarterly stocks at 7.401 billion bushels, the smallest for March 1 in nine years. Looking ahead to this spring, the USDA projected 2023 corn plantings at 92 million acres, up 4% from 2022.

A rally in crude oil prices provided additional support to soybean and corn prices with growing use of grains and oilseeds in making biofuels.

Oil prices jumped about $5 a barrel on Monday’s open, jolted by a surprise announcement by OPEC+ to cut production further in an effort to support market stability. O/R

Large speculators trimmed their net short position in CBOT corn futures in the week ended March 28, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and cut their net long position in soybeans.

(Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Sona Cheema)

((naveen.thukral@thomsonreuters.com; +65-6870-3829; Reuters Messaging: naveen.thukral.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

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