Soybean Futures Rise as Brazilian Outlook Stays Dry — Daily Grain Highlights

By Kirk Maltais

-- Soybeans for November delivery rose 2.4% to $10.66 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Friday, rebounding from Thursday's selling as Brazilian growing areas look to have hot temperatures and little rain going into next week.

-- Corn for December delivery rose 1% to $4.17 1/2 a bushel.

-- Wheat for December delivery fell 0.7% to $5.80 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Eyes to the South: Corn and soybeans on the CBOT rose with the focus staying on weather developments in Brazil.

"All eyes are on South American weather," said Tommy Grisafi of Advance Trading.

In a forecast Friday, agricultural research firm DTN says that temperatures in Brazilian growing areas are expected to be above normal. Rainfall in southern Brazil is not expected until late next week, while other areas are forecast to receive isolated showers.

In Preparation: CBOT grains were mixed for most of the day as grain traders prepared for the end of the month on Monday, which is also the end of the month and third quarter 2024.

Traders looked ahead to Monday's quarterly stocks report from the USDA.

"For corn and soybeans, this will be equivalent to the ending stocks for the just-ended 2023-24 crop year," said Commerzbank in a note, adding that corn and soybean stocks are expected to be at multi-year highs, as are wheat stocks.

INSIGHT

Storm Surge: Hurricane Helene has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but appears to be heading toward eastern Corn Belt states by Saturday. The storm system is expected to be directly over Kentucky and Tennessee by early morning Saturday, bringing high-powered winds to Corn Belt states including Indiana, Ohio and Illinois.

The storm made landfall as a Category 4 hurricane on Thursday over the Florida panhandle, traveling into Georgia and South Carolina and leaving damage in its path, including Georgia farmland hurting cotton fields and other cash crops.

Cooling Off: Wheat couldn't get any upward momentum in Friday's session.

Australian wheat-growing areas are expected to see better weather in the coming days, reversing the trend of hotter weather hurting their wheat crop. Cooler weather would in turn support higher yields there.

Weather in other growing areas such as Russia continue to experience dry weather, hurting wheat yields there. But Russia continues to sell wheat cheaply, which provides the world with pricing pressure as other offerings can't keep up pricewise and are forced to reduce costs to spur sales.

AHEAD

-- The USDA is scheduled to release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. EDT Monday.

-- The USDA is due to release its quarterly grains stocks report at noon EDT Monday.

-- The USDA is scheduled to release its weekly crop progress report at 4 p.m. EDT Monday.

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 27, 2024 15:34 ET (19:34 GMT)

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