Chicago | Reuters—Chicago wheat futures fell on Monday as ample supplies pressured prices, with worry receding that an intensified conflict between Russia and Ukraine could threaten Black Sea export shipments.
Soybeans rose on improved demand after hitting contract lows last week, and corn fell on spillover weakness from wheat and favorable South American weather forecasts.
Chicago Board of Trade most-active wheat Wv1 settled down 9 cents at $5.55-3/4 per bushel, and corn Cv1 settled down 2-1/4 cents at $4.33 per bushel. Soybeans Sv1 settled up 2-1/4 cents to $9.83-1/2 a bushel after dropping to their lowest since Oct. 21 on Friday.
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Russia launched a hypersonic ballistic missile at Ukraine last week. However, a lack of escalation over the weekend has quelled fears that the conflict would disrupt grain supplies flowing from the Black Sea breadbasket region.
Talks of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hezbollah have also pressured wheat prices.
Russia’s IKAR agricultural consultancy said on Monday that it had raised its overall forecast for Russia’s 2024 grain crop to 125 million metric tons from 124.5 million tons.
“There was concern there would be stockpiling of wheat reserves as the war spread,” Randy Place, analyst at Hightower Report, said. “Now potential for stockpiling of wheat is lower.”
U.S. winter wheat crop conditions likely improved for a fourth straight week after timely precipitation across much of the Plains farm belt earlier this month, according to analysts surveyed by Reuters.
Soybeans gained support from relatively strong demand and a weakening dollar, though forecasts for bumper production in South America have limited gains.
Brazil’s soybean planting for the 2024/25 season has reached 86 per cent of the total expected area as of last Thursday, well above the 74 per cent seen a year earlier.
Though dryness over corn and soy growing areas of South America was limited, forecasted rains over the region are expected to alleviate concerns.
“There are no issues of consequence in South America,” Place said.
—Additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Naveen Thukral in Singapore
