© Reuters. Wheat fields in General Belgrano, Argentina 03/28/2023 REUTERS/Enrique Marcarian
By Cassandra Garrison
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – U.S. and U.S. futures closed higher on Tuesday and closed almost flat as traders worried about U.S. planting delays and adverse weather, eyeing a key U.S. sowing of crops that will be released this week.
Traders adjusted their positions pending the US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) annual planting intentions report due out on Friday.
Analysts polled by Reuters ahead of the report expect 2023 corn plantings on average to be 90.880 million acres, wheat to be 48.852 million acres and soybeans to be 88.242 million acres.
Spring wheat gained on speculation about planting delays in the northern US Plains due to cold weather, analysts said.
“The bear window is ending for grain markets,” said Craig Turner of Daniels Trading. “We’re starting to see more of an uptrend.”
Soybeans were also supported by technical talks and a gloomy harvest outlook in drought-hit Argentina, traders say.
The most active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade closed up 1.75 cents at $6.9975 a bushel.
Soybeans closed at $14.6775 a bushel, up 25.50 cents or 1.8%, the strongest percentage gain in the most active contract in four and a half months. Corn was down 1 cent at $6.4725 a bushel.
(Reporting by Cassandra Garrison in Mexico City, Mei Mei Chu in Kuaka Lumpur and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris.)