The coronavirus outbreak has resulted in lockdowns in many cities around the globe. People are indulging in panic buying of food stuff, which is spurring demand for some agricultural commodities. Coffee and wheat prices have fared pretty well during the past month that marked the peak of the virus chaos.

iPath Series B Bloomberg Coffee Subindex Total Return ETN (JO - Free Report) and Teucrium Wheat ETF (WEAT - Free Report) have added about 11.1% and 5.5%, in the past month (as of Apr 15, 2020), respectively, versus a 2.3% uptick in the S&P 500.

What Led to the Rally?

Widespread lockdowns have compelled people to look for ways to stay alert through a daily dose of caffeine.This has ensured steady consumer demand for coffee despite the pandemic, per CNBC. Rather panic-buying resulted in a sudden spurt in prices. Coffee roasters for in-home use have witnessed a surge in demand, as told by Maximillian Copestake from broker Marex Spectron to CNBC.

In March,an analyst noted that“brokers and wholesalers are currently short on beans and having difficulties securing new supplies. Top producer Columbia is in the middle of its growing season, while in Brazil the latest crop hasn’t yet been harvested. Thus, high demand for beans has yet to be fully met from these two major producing nations,” as quoted on seekingalpha.

Though production and processing of coffee has continued as it is treated as an essential item, transportation and logistics issues have probably caused disruption in the supply chain. Wheat is another food grain that has stayed steady on strong demand.

In North America and Europe, wheat prices have jumped. Ukrainian wheat export prices have increased to this season's high amid strong demand from foreign buyers.Ukraine is one of world's top wheat exporters. Last week Russia — another top wheat producer — decided to curb grain exports to 7 million tonnes from April to June to preserve supplies for domestic use during the virus outbreak.

Against this backdrop, we highlight ETFs on these two agricultural commodities that could be tracked for short-term upside.

JO in Focus

The underlying Bloomberg Coffee Subindex Total Return reflects the returns that are potentially available through an unleveraged investment in the futures contracts on coffee. The product charges 45 bps in fees (read: Best & Worst ETF Areas of March).

WEAT in Focus

The underlying Wheat Futures looks to reflect the daily changes of a weighted average of the closing prices for three futures contracts for wheat that are traded on the CBOT : the second-to-expire contract, the third-to-expire contract and the contract expiring in December following the expiration month of the third-to-expire contract. The expense ratio of the product is 1.45% (see all agricultural ETFs here).

Will the Trend Last Long?

Once the virus scare subsides, transportation will be normalized. The artificial shortage and high demand, being noticed now in the market, will ease out gradually. There will not be much pent-up demand for food items once the economies get back on their feet.

Plus, there are heightened global recession fears, which might lead many consumers to cut back on unnecessary purchases. Moreover, favorable weather is likely to boost wheat production ahead. So, agricultural commodity ETFs are likely to underperform equities over the medium term.