With war in Ukraine, wheat, corn and soybeans hit record prices, says consultancy

A survey by the consultancy Safras & Mercados, produced at the request of CNN, points out that corn and soybeans reached the highest price in the last ten years, this March. The first hit $7.64 on the 11th, while the second hit $17.05 on the 1st.

Wheat still beat the all-time high, according to Safras & Mercados. The grain came to be traded at US$ 14.25 per bushel (a unit of measure used as a standard for international negotiations of these commodities), on the 7th of this month.

From January to March this year, the average price of these goods rose significantly. Wheat had the biggest increase – 49.5% in the period. Corn registered a growth of 22.7%, and soybeans, a variation of 20%.

Safras & Mercado analyst Luiz Fernando Roque stated that the current movement in wheat and corn prices is mainly due to the conflict in Ukraine. The rise in soy ends up following other commodities.

“Russia and Ukraine are major players in the corn and wheat market, that is, as they are major producers and exporters of these products, the conflict leaves a doubt in the market about the supply of these commodities. In the case of soybeans, it was already increasing in value on top of the losses in South America, the conflict only put pressure on the price”, explains the analyst.

Although the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory took place only on February 24, tensions due to the conflict were already reflected in the market the week before.

Data from the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA) show that, from February 17 to 23, wheat rose by around 15%. Corn had an increase of about 7%, and soybeans, an increase of almost 5%.

The coordinator of the Center for Market Intelligence of the Confederation of Agriculture and Livestock of Brazil (CNA), Natália Fernandes, stressed that the risk of compromising the supply of grains, such as wheat and corn, put pressure on the market.

“The correlation of these markets at this moment is greater, but they were not aligned that way. However, corn and soybeans were on the rise, but on account of a tighter supply. Corn was even affected by climatic problems in Brazil and is still being affected, with a significant drop in the south of the country”, points out Natália.

According to data on the Brazilian trade balance, released by the Ministry of Economy, agriculture and livestock had a growth of 41.5% in exports this week compared to the previous one.

The expansion was mainly driven by the growth in sales of unground wheat and rye products, which had an increase of 3,196.2% in the daily average, compared to the same period last year.