By Joe Hoppe

A roundup of key agricultural commodity markets for the week of March 3-7 by Dow Jones Newswires in Barcelona.

GRAINS & OILSEEDS: The macro mood is bearish, as market concerns around U.S. tariffs, job cuts, soft economic data and a looming Federal government shut down weigh.

Investor risk appetite is low as geopolitical and macroeconomic concerns mount, including the enforcement of fresh U.S. tariffs from Tuesday. The resulting flight to safety has seen the dollar gain against other commodity currencies including the Brazilian real, Australian dollar and Canadian dollar, Peak Trading analysts said in a note.

The stronger greenback is a headwind for agricultural markets as it becomes expensive for international buyers to purchase dollar-denominated commodities.

South American weather show a few areas of concern, with parts of Brazil turning drier. Northern Brazil will see better rainfall later in the week but consistent rains are needed from mid-March through to April to see the strongest corn yield potential. Argentina is also set to benefit from drier weather into mid-March, after recent heavy rainfall caused flooding worries.

Turning to the U.S., the western Corn Belt has been dry for the past two months. This dryness will become more of a focus for the market in the next two weeks, when regular rainfall becomes critical for wheat development, and corn and soybean spring planting soil moisture, Peak Trading added.

U.S. export sales data softened last week. Mexico was still a major buyer of corn, but traders will want to see improved figures. Soybean export sales were also soft, though this partly reflects Brazilian harvests coming to bear.

Chicago wheat futures are down 1.4% at $5.48 a bushel on Monday, while corn is down 2.8% on $4.57 a bushel. Soybean prices are down 1.5% at $10.10 a bushel.

SOFT COMMODITIES: Agricultural softs have had a mixed performance over the past week, with cocoa and sugar sliding and coffee gaining.

Cocoa prices fell in thin, volatile trading, and sit down 3.7% on-week. Speculators are likely closing their long positions as the market turns bearish on favorable weather in West Africa and signs of demand destruction, Rabobank analysts said in note.

Both cocoa and coffee still sit at historically elevated prices on persistent supply concerns. A tight market following three year consecutive years of deficits is likely to keep cocoa prices trading volatility, ING analysts say in a note.

Coffee has posted overall gains on-week, though they came under pressure as persistent growth in certified stockpiles temporarily overcame supply concerns, ING says.

On Monday, cocoa is down 0.6% at $8,161 a metric ton, while coffee is up 4.4% at $3.89 a pound. Sugar is down 1.6% at $0.18 pound.

Write to Joe Hoppe at joseph.hoppe@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 03, 2025 12:33 ET (17:33 GMT)

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