Corn, wheat, and soybean futures rallied on Wednesday after US President Donald Trump backtracked on tariffs.
Trump said there would be a 90-day pause on the tariffs he announced for most countries last week. However, he also said levies on China would increase to 125%. Although China is the biggest buyer of American soybeans, soy futures jumped as soyoil shot higher on the gains in crude oil. Sharp advances in the outside equity markets also helped to lift the ag markets. Short covering ahead of tomorrow’s USDA supply-demand update further underpinned soybeans. May beans climbed 20 cents to $10.12 ¾, and November was up 19 ¼ cents to $9.97.
Corn was further boosted by strength in US cash markets and also benefited by positioning ahead of the USDA report. The May and December contracts each gained a nickel to close at $4.74 and $4.50 ¾.
A weaker US dollar helped to lift wheat, as did forecasts calling for mostly dry and warm weather for the winter wheat crop on the US southern Plains this weekend. May Chicago was up 2 ¼ cents to $5.42 ¼, May Kansas City added 6 ½ cents to $5.68, and May Minneapolis gained 7 ¾ cents to $6.08 ¾.
