On February 13, the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) agricultural futures ended the day with mixed results, as corn experienced a slight increase, wheat remained unchanged, and soybeans saw a decrease.
The most active corn contract for March delivery closed at 4.3075 U.S. dollars per bushel, marking a rise of 0.25 cents, or 0.06 percent. Meanwhile, March wheat settled at 5.975 dollars per bushel, showing no change from the previous trading day. March soybean fell 6.75 cents, or 0.57 percent, to settle at 11.8625 dollars per bushel.
With the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 100th Outlook Forum expected to produce bearish 2024-2025 U.S. corn, soybean and wheat stocks, traders are quick to take profits on any rally, while holding back on pushing new shorts too far. AgResource, a Chicago-based research company, predicts that CBOT prices will trade sideways in anticipation of the USDA Outlook Forum later in the week.
In January, the U.S. consumer price index (CPI) exceeded expectations, reaching 3.1 percent year on year, which was slightly lower than December’s 3.4 percent. Despite this, it remained higher than the 2.9 percent forecast by analysts, which eliminated the possibility of a Federal Reserve rate cut in March. U.S. financial markets are adapting to a prolonged period of higher interest rates in the country.
Additionally, Argentina and Southern Brazil are currently experiencing dry weather, while Northern and Central Brazil are expected to have normal rainfall and seasonal temperatures. AgResource believes that as long as near normal rainfall returns to Argentina and Southern Brazil after February 25, the impact of the recent 10 to 12 days of dry weather will be negligible for crop yields.
