Speculators in the first days of June covered short positions across Chicago grains and oilseeds for a second consecutive week, motivated by dry weather for U.S. crops and multi-year lows across some contracts.
Chicago-traded December corn futures hit another calendar-year low on Wednesday, continuing the downward trajectory that has so far unfolded very similarly to 2013.
Although spring planting has begun in the United States, it will be a couple of weeks before farmers across the country are in full swing. Warm weather expected for mid-month should be friendly to their efforts.
Trade estimates for U.S. corn and soybean plantings ahead of Friday’s notoriously hard-to-predict acreage report may indicate stronger chances for the soy number to surprise versus the corn one.