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Commodities

Soy, Corn Extend Rebound From Lows Amid Signs of Bottoming Out

A tractor moves soybean meal at a Molinos Agro soybean processing and crushing facility in Rosario, Santa Fe province, Argentina, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024. The vast amounts of soybeans set to be crushed for its oil - a key feedstock in making renewable diesel - will create piles of co-product meal in the US, posing a threat to Argentina's biggest export. Photographer: Sebastian Lopez Brach/Bloomberg (Sebastian Lopez Brach/Bloomberg)

(Bloomberg) -- Futures of soybeans and corn extended a rebound from recent lows amid signs that prices may have bottomed out. 

Most-active soybean contracts settled at the key level of $10 per bushel for the first time in three weeks. Corn futures rose just above $4 per bushel, capping the first monthly gain since April.  

Prices have shown signs of bottoming out after plunging to the lowest levels since 2020 earlier this month. US export sales for the upcoming crop have picked up after a slow start as cheaper supplies lured buyers. What’s more, dryness across the Midwest has eroded crop conditions, potentially curbing the size of the harvest. 

But it is still not clear that recent prices are low enough to create sufficient demand to absorb the supply surplus, according to Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX Group Inc.

“We are far from confirming that to be the case,” Suderman said Friday in a note to clients, warning of renewed price pressure coming from the US harvest over the next 60 to 90 days. 

Meanwhile, traders will also be more closely watching the weather in South America over the next few weeks, with top soybean producer Brazil facing the worst drought in decades ahead of the planting season. 

©2024 Bloomberg L.P.