Corn is approaching a 10-year high

The most-active corn contract (Cv1) was unchanged at $7.99-3/4 a bushel, as of 0422 GMT, but not far from its highest after September 2012, reached Tuesday.

Soybeans (Sv1) earned 0.2% at $16.95 a bushel, and wheat (Wv1) rose 0.3% to $11.11-3/4 a bushel.

Chilly weather is slowing the beginning of U.S. corn plantings. The market is susceptible to potential problems for the U.S. crop as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has restricted Ukrainian grain exports.

As of Sunday, U.S. corn planting was 4% whole, below the five-year average of 6%, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) stated in a weekly report on Monday. Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting 5%.

Experts stated that the dry weather forecast for the second half of April in Brazil’s central area, where some of the country’s biggest grain-producing states are located, might limit yields for the 2021/22-second corn crop.

After seeing its first crop impacted by the lack of rainfall, Brazil hopes to harvest an 88.5 million-tonne second crop, accounting for almost 75% of its total corn output in a given year.

China’s output is set to increase

For wheat, the USDA crop report also underscored drought threats to the crop that could exacerbate a shortfall in supply from Ukraine. The agency placed 30% of U.S. winter wheat in good-to-excellent condition, a 26-year low.

Gains in soybean prices were limited by an official forecast of higher production in China, the world’s top importer.

An agriculture ministry official stated that China’s soybean output would increase by 25.8% in 2022 amid significant efforts to boost oilseed production.

The land planted with soybeans will grow by 16.7% this year, said Tang Ke, director-general of the market department under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.