Soybean and corn futures hit week-long highs on Argentina fears

By Julie Gingersen

CHICAGO, Feb 20 (Reuters) – U.S. soybean and corn futures hit a one-week high and soybean oil hit a one-month high as worries over the outlook for Argentina’s drought-hit crop supported prices, analysts said.

* “It’s about the drought in Argentina (…) and the addition of an additional risk premium,” said Don Roose, president of US Commodities. “The key is whether Brazil’s higher (soy) crop starts to pay off,” Roose said.

* As of 1903 GMT, March soybeans were up 21.5 cents at $15.4875 a bushel after trading at $15.49, the highest level in the contract since February 13.

* Soybean oil hit its highest level since Jan. 20, while March corn rose 3.25 cents to $6.81 a bushel.

* Argentina is a major producer of soybeans and corn, as well as the world’s largest exporter of soybean products, including soybean oil and meal.

* Rainfall in Argentina’s crop belt over the next 10 days “will remain limited in coverage and intensity, maintaining significant drought and stress on late crop growth,” space technology company Maxar said in a note daily weather forecast.

* Argentina’s corn exports are expected to fall by around 40% year-on-year between March and June, the Rosario grain exchange said on Friday.

* Worries over Argentina overshadowed market pressure from active field work in Brazil, where farmers are harvesting what is expected to be the biggest ever soybean crop.

* Brazilian growers harvested 25% of the soybean acreage planted for 2022/23 last Thursday, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said Monday.

* March soft red winter wheat in Chicago fell 11 cents to $7.5475 a bushel, under pressure from a stronger dollar and export competition from Black Sea suppliers.

* However, hard red winter wheat futures found support in the dry conditions of the US Plains Winter Wheat Belt.

* Operators are still weighing the prospects of pursuing a Black Sea maritime corridor from Ukraine amid escalating fighting in eastern Ukraine.

(Reporting by Julie Ingwersen in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing in Spanish by Javier López de Lérida)