Chicago Grain Futures Gain Slightly on Outside Markets

Grain futures in Chicago Board of Trade rose a little on Wednesday as crude oil rallied and dollar plummeted.

Soybean future for July delivery gained 7 cents to 11.69 U.S. dollars per bushel, hitting another 8-month high. July corn rose 0.25 cents, closing at 4.26 dollars a bushel. July wheat was up 7 cents, settled on 5.9775 dollars per bushel.

Dollar continued to go down versus other main currencies on Wednesday, which is considered the most important factor pushing grains to climb. The dollar rate against euro fell sharply to its 5- month low of 1.3820 dollars shortly before CBOT pit closed. The dollar was also much lower against the British pound and the Japanese yen.

Dollar's depreciation is bullish to U.S. grains for it will boost America's agricultural products international competitive power as the price goes down.

Oil prices hit a 6-month high with the July contract gaining about 1.94 dollars to 62.04 dollars a barrel for the session after a report showed U.S. crude inventories dropped 2.1 million barrels and gasoline fell 4.3 million barrels for the second straight week. Oil's rally provided great help to grains as corn and soy are both important materials producing biofuel.

Speculation for lower soybean output from Argentina may have also been a factor underpinning soybeans this session. The Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange lowered its forecast for Argentina's soy production to 32.2 million tons, down 600,000 tons from last week.

Egypt was testing a third wheat shipment from Russia for dead insects after 80,000 tons of Russian wheat has been quarantined over the past two weeks due to contamination.