Chicago | Reuters – First-month corn contracts in Chicago hit new lows on Wednesday after the U.S. government closed two key rail crossings into Mexico, the main importer of U.S. corn, in response to increasing numbers of migrants.
Business groups and rail operators are calling on authorities to reopen rail bridges in Eagle Pass and El Paso, which U.S. border authorities closed on Dec. 18 to “redirect personnel” to process migrants crossing the border.
According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, total rail freight traffic between the ports of El Paso and Eagle Pass was over $3 billion in both directions in October. That represented about four percent of all trade across the U.S.-Mexico border that month.
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The impact on exports is already being felt, the National Grain and Feed Association said in a letter sent to Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday.
“Unfortunately, the border crossing closures are leading to export losses,” the letter says. “Every day that border crossings are closed, we estimate that nearly a million bushels of grain exports are potentially lost, along with export potential for many other agricultural products.”
The U.S. typically exports grain by rail to Mexico — the top buyer of U.S. corn for the past three years — said Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics.
“The market is responding to this and I feel like I have to address supply chain issues that I thought would have long since disappeared once the pandemic ends,” Zuzolo said.
Soybean futures also fell on Brazilian weather forecasts, while wheat fell as analysts raised Black Sea production estimates, traders said.
The most active Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn CH24 and May CK24 futures set new contract lows. The most active contract, Cv1, settled down 2-3/4 cents at $4.82-1/2 a bushel.
The most active soybean contract Sv1 closed down 4-1/4 cents at $13.08-1/4 a bushel, while wheat Wv1 closed down 12-3/4 cents at $6.10 a Bushel concluded.
–Additional reporting by Peter Hobson in Canberra and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris.
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