Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rose on Wednesday amid uncertainty about exports from war-torn Ukraine, analysts said, while gains in corn and soybean futures evaporated.
Concerns about Ukraine increased as data from the country’s agriculture ministry showed that grain exports have slowed over the past 10 days, with volumes so far this month 9 per cent behind the same period last year.
Ukraine on Sunday said Russia was blocking the full implementation of a Black Sea grain export deal, forcing Ukrainian ports to work at 25 to 30 per cent of their capacity. The agreement, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July, paved the way for Ukraine to resume grain exports from Black Sea ports that had been shut since Russia invaded in February.
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United Nations’ aid chief Martin Griffiths said he was “relatively optimistic” the deal would be extended beyond mid-November.
“Traders are still on the lookout for any news about the UN grain corridor deal,” CHS Hedging said in note.
Most-active CBOT wheat futures Wv1 settled up 5-3/4 cents at $8.40-1/2 a bushel, after dropping earlier in the session to its lowest price since Sept. 19. Corn Cv1 reached its highest price in more than a week before ending down 1-1/4 cents at $6.85 a bushel. Soybean futures Sv1, meanwhile, gave up gains of more than 10 cents to close 1/4 cent lower at $13.81-3/4 a bushel.
Weakness in the U.S. dollar helped support early gains in the markets, traders said. A softer dollar makes U.S. commodities look more attractive to importers. However, corn and soybean futures ran out of bullish news to keep prices higher, traders said.
Wheat futures felt an extra boost from concerns about drought lowering Argentina’s output, a broker said. The Rosario grain exchange pegged the Argentine wheat harvest at 13.7 million tonnes, down from its previous forecast of 15 million.
On Thursday, grain traders will review weekly U.S. export sales data.
– Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore
