Chicago | Reuters — Chicago wheat sank on Wednesday for a second straight session to the lowest in nearly two months, as the market gauged diplomatic talks to unblock Ukrainian ports, while U.S. rainfall across the plains added pressure to prices.
Corn followed, dropping to a nine-week low, as U.S. farmers caught up on planting after slow seeding early on.
Soybeans firmed, supported by expectations of expanded biofuels blending in the United States.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) lost 46-1/4 cents to $10.41-1/4 a bushel, after reaching its lowest since April 8 (all figures US$).
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CBOT corn fell 22-1/4 cents at $7.31-1/4 a bushel, hitting its lowest since March 29. Soybeans firmed seven cents to $16.90-1/4 a bushel.
Wheat markets fell further after comments this week by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who indicated he was open to the possibility of allowing Ukraine to ship grain through Black Sea ports currently blockaded by Russia.
A senior representative of the United Nations, which is trying to broker an agreement to enable export of both Ukrainian grains and Russian food and fertilizer, had “constructive discussions” in Moscow, a U.N. spokesman said on Tuesday.
Traders remained cautious about a diplomatic breakthrough, as Moscow has sought eased sanctions in return for reopening Ukrainian ports, a demand rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies.
“What’s going on in reality is different than the rhetoric. I don’t think we’ll see a lot of shipments coming out of Ukraine,” said Joe Davis, director of commodity sales at Futures International.
Corn futures followed wheat, also pressured by U.S. planting progress that had mostly caught up with five-year averages by last week.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Tuesday that corn planting was 86 per cent complete, near the five-year average pace of 87 per cent.
Analysts expect seasonal market pressure as planting nears completion, turning attention to growing conditions through the summer months.
“We’re going to be watching the weather very close,” said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities. “If you run into weather problems, you put risk premium in very quick.”
— Reporting for Reuters by Christopher Walljasper; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Hallie Gu and Dominique Patton in Beijing.
