By Joe Stonor
A roundup of key agricultural commodity markets for the week of Jan. 26-30 by Dow Jones Newswires in Barcelona.
GRAINS & OILSEEDS:
The conclusion of the Federal Open Market Committee's two-day meeting Wednesday will drive macro sentiment. Though market consensus is firmly behind rates being held steady--there is over a 97% probability of no change, accord to LSEG--markets will pay close attention to the comments of Chair Jerome Powell for clues on the Fed's path forward.
A suggestion that rate-cutting will resume could support agricultural commodities in the short term, as a weaker dollar is bullish for commodities. Last week's sharp drop in the dollar pushed investors towards hard assets, a trend compounded by increased geopolitical risk, analysts at Peak Trading Research wrote.
Earnings reports for major U.S. tech companies including Microsoft, Meta and Tesla--which all report Wednesday--will also weigh on broader market sentiment.
Speculators continue to bet against agricultural commodities, a dynamic which could lead to a short squeeze, in turn leading to rising prices, Peak Trading Research analysts said.
Export inspections of corn in the U.S. rose in the past week, according to data released by the Department of Agriculture. Corn inspections totaled 1.51 million metric tons for the past week--up 1.25 million tons from this time last year--though wheat inspections fell by over 100,000 on-year to 351,001 tons. Soybean inspections were up sharply on-year, with the 1.32 million tons exported for the week up from around 740,000 this time last year.
China was overwhelmingly the leading destination for U.S. soybeans shipped during the week. South Korea was the top destination for U.S. wheat, and Mexico was the leading destination for corn.
Weather in Brazil is set to remain non-threatening, though cold storms roiling mainland U.S. could drive corn prices up as transportation is complicated and ethanol costs rise. The U.S. Agriculture Department reported sub-zero temperatures across the Northern Plains at the end of last week, as market participants feared damage to crops, pushing U.S. wheat prices higher.
Wheat futures fall 1.3% in Chicago to $5.22 a bushel in European afternoon trade Tuesday, while corn futures slip 0.6% to $4.28 a bushel after rising around 1% over the weekend. Futures for Soybeans were down 0.5% at $10.62 a bushel.
SOFT COMMODITIES:
Cocoa ICE futures prices slipped 0.3% to $4,334 a ton, as the deflationary trend in the commodity continued. Cocoa prices have declined from a 2025 average of over $8,000 to below $4,500 to Jan. 23, Bernstein analysts noted.
ICE futures for coffee gained 1.6% to $35.66 a pound. Robusta coffee is in a deflationary trend, Jefferies analysts said, though Arabica nudged up slightly on-year.
Write to Joe Stonor at josephmichael.stonor@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 26, 2026 13:06 ET (18:06 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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