“The main features right now are the ocean temperatures are quite warm for this time of year,” Michelle L’Heureux, a meteorologist at the center, told Bloomberg. “Right now, we have a pretty robust El Nino event going on.”
The changing weather conditions will affect agricultural commodities prices ahead, especially around the September planting season. For instance, Australia’s high-protein wheat crop will likely take a hit due to the drier conditions across the country’s eastern grain belt, Reuters reports.
Soybean production in India, Asia’s second-largest producer, could diminish El Niño causes dry conditions in the western and central regions of the country.
Chinese and Indian corn production, a water-intensive crop, could also fall. Consequently, U.S. and South American suppliers could export more to Asia.
For more information on the commodities market, visit our commodity ETFs category.
Max Chen contributed to this article.