For the most part commodities are down in 2012 with several commodities having experienced over 20% declines in the first 5 months. The picture is by no means consistent however and on the other side of the spectrum we have soybean meal futures which have risen 33% so far in 2012, making it the top gainer. Here's the top 10 performing front month commodity futures contracts:
It was a steep climb higher for soybean meal in the first 4 months but it's entered into a choppy pattern since then.
According to this article from Wisconsin AgConnection (published back at the beginning of May), contributing to higher prices are supply issues with farmers in Brazil. As far as animal feed is concerned, corn and soybean meal are often interchangeable. So while the two have moved in opposite directions in the first half of 2012, we would not be surprised to see them converge back towards each other as livestock farmers adjust.
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