Oil prices fall, corn prices rise for third consecutive session

According to the Vietnam Commodity Exchange (MXV), the world raw material market had mixed developments in the trading session on October 23.

In the energy market, the prices of two crude oil products reversed to decline after two positive sessions in the context of soaring US crude oil inventories and a stronger USD. On the contrary, the agricultural market had many positives when corn prices increased for the third consecutive session thanks to vibrant US exports and narrowing supply from Brazil. Closing, the MXV-Index decreased by 0.48% to 2,183 points.

Thị trường hàng hóa hôm nay ngày 24/10: Giá dầu quay đầu giảm, giá ngô tăng phiên thứ ba liên tiếp

MXV-Index

World oil prices reverse due to soaring US crude oil inventories

At the end of the trading session on October 23, world oil prices reversed and decreased, mainly due to crude oil inventories in the US increasing beyond expectations and the strong increase of the USD.

Specifically, both key crude oil commodities declined sharply, with WTI down 1.35% to $70.77/barrel and Brent down 1.42% to $74.96/barrel.

Energy price list

According to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA), US commercial crude oil inventories in the week ending October 18 unexpectedly increased by 5.47 million barrels to 426 million barrels. Notably, this increase is much higher than the forecast of 270,000 barrels by Reuters, reflecting the slowing demand for fuel in the US and the excess supply in the market.

In addition, according to the President of Lipow Oil Associates, the reason for the sharp increase in oil inventories comes from the recovery in import activities after major storms in the US. Specifically, net crude oil imports increased by 913,000 barrels/day to 2.3 million barrels/day, while exports decreased slightly by 11,000 barrels/day to 4.11 million barrels/day. At the same time, after the seasonal maintenance period, the refinery's oil refining capacity also increased by 329,000 barrels/day and is expected to continue to increase in the coming time.

In addition, the downward pressure on prices also came from the US dollar rising to its highest level since late July, after the market expected the Fed to cut interest rates at a slow pace. As a result, the stronger US dollar made oil more expensive for importing countries, thereby affecting demand.

However, in the Middle East, tensions continued to escalate as Israel carried out a fierce airstrike on the Lebanese port city of Tyre, and confirmed the death of Hashem Safieddine, the heir apparent to the leadership of Hezbollah. This development showed that the mediation efforts of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken had not yet yielded results. This helped limit the decline in oil prices during the session.

Corn prices continue to rise

The agricultural market was relatively volatile in yesterday's trading session, with key commodities such as corn and wheat recording slight increases. For corn, this was the third consecutive increase in this commodity, in the context of positive signals from US exports.

Agricultural product price list

In its Daily Sales report yesterday, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that exporters had sold a large corn order of 100,000 tons to an unnamed country, scheduled for delivery in the current 2024-2025 crop year. This was the sixth consecutive trading session that USDA recorded the appearance of large corn orders, indicating that international demand for this commodity is increasing strongly and this has had a strong "bullish" impact on prices.

In addition, the shrinking supply from Brazil this year has also helped improve the prospects of US corn in the global export market. Specifically, the Brazilian Grain Exporters Association forecasts that the country may export 6.24 million tons of corn in October, a sharp decrease compared to 8.45 million tons in the same period last year. The main reason is that Brazil's crop this year was severely damaged by drought, which has narrowed the supply for export.

On the domestic market on October 23, the offering price of South American corn recorded a slight increase at major ports. Specifically, at Vung Tau port, corn futures for delivery in December 2024 were offered at around VND6,550 - 6,600/kg. For the delivery period in January next year, the price ranged from VND6,600 - 6,750/kg. Meanwhile, at Cai Lan port, the offering price was recorded to be VND50 - 100/kg lower than at Vung Tau port.

Wheat prices, despite being choppy throughout yesterday’s session, closed up 0.43%. The outlook for continued declines in supplies from Russia, the world’s largest wheat supplier, next year due to adverse weather conditions was the main factor supporting prices yesterday.

Prices of some other goods