Stockpiling supports grain prices

The corona crisis is having a major impact on commodity prices. For example, the CRB index – a representative indicator of global commodity markets – has fallen by around 30% since the coronavirus escalation began on 20 January. Since then, grain prices have also been under pressure, but the decline has not been as sharp. Here, the pressure was mainly due to risk-averse sentiment among investors in all commodity markets. However, because demand for some grains remained relatively stable or even increased due to stock building, the price decrease was still relatively limited.