Corn holds near 16-month high on strong US export demand

CANBERRA, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Chicago corn futures inched higher on Wednesday and were just off the previous day’s 16-month high of more than $5 a bushel, with strong U.S. export demand, falling inventories and fund buying supporting prices.

Wheat futures gained and were near their highest level since October 2024 amid concerns that cold weather in Russia and the U.S. could damage crops and curtail supply.

Soybeans edged lower as traders braced for a deluge of supply from Brazil’s ongoing harvest.

* The most active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) added 0.1% at $5.02-1/4 a bushel at 0146 GMT, a whisker away from Tuesday’s high of $5.04.

* CBOT wheat rose 0.1% to $6.05-1/4 a bushel after touching $6.09 on Tuesday, while soybeans, which hit a 6-1/2-month high of $10.80 earlier this month, eased 0.1% to $10.37-1/4 a bushel.

* The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Tuesday said 1.6 million metric tons of U.S. corn were inspected for export last week, well above analysts’ forecast, continuing a strong run of U.S. sales that is expected to draw down U.S. inventories in the coming months.

* Funds have already built up a large net long position in CBOT corn and bought more on Tuesday, traders said.

* U.S. President Donald Trump said he would impose tariffs on auto, semiconductor and pharmaceutical imports. However, agricultural trade has not yet been hit with trade barriers and some analysts think tariff negotiations could see increased purchases of U.S. crops.

* In wheat, the head of analysis at Russian shipper Rusagrotrans said Russian exporters would be able to deliver no more than 8.1 million tons of wheat by the end of the current 2024-25 season, well below their permitted quota.

* Russian wheat export prices have been rising in recent weeks on falling shipments.

* In soybeans, U.S. processors crushed their second-largest volume of beans ever in January, the National Oilseed Processors Association said.

* Brazil’s national energy council has decided not to lift the local mandatory blend of biodiesel into diesel to 15% from 14%, a measure that would have boosted demand for soy as feedstock.

* Global equity markets rose on Tuesday, with both the S&P 500 and European shares ending at record highs, as markets digested strong U.S. earnings, trade tariffs and a big European defence spending hike. (Reporting by Peter Hobson; Editing by Sumana Nandy)