Chicago wheat falls after scaling 3-1/2-year high on Black Sea supply concerns

BEIJING: Chicago wheat futures fell on Wednesday after hitting a 3-1/2-year high in the previous session as traders weighed disruptions to Black Sea grain exports caused by ongoing conflicts, while corn and soybeans also dropped. The most-traded wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 1. 8% at $7. 68-1/2 a bushel by 0302 GMT. CBOT corn dropped 1. 7% to $5. 37 a bushel, while soybeans fell 1% to $13. 03-3/4 a bushel. Wheat climbed to a 3-1/2-year high on Tuesday on reports that Moscow had rejected a moratorium on attacks in the Black Sea and struck port infrastructure in the region overnight. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told reporters on Wednesday that the country sees no grounds for the Black Sea grain deal to resume, as Russia and Ukraine continue to attack each other’s grain export facilities. Prices had fallen after Turkey said on Monday that it had prepared a plan for the safe passage of grain via the Black Sea. Turkey has repeatedly expressed willingness to revive a UN-brokered deal that got grain out of Ukraine during wartime. Russia attacked Ukraine’s port infrastructure and a border crossing with Romania in the southern Black Sea region of Odessa overnight, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday. For corn, the US Department of Agriculture kept its good-to-excellent rating for the American corn crop unchanged at 57% in a weekly report on Monday. That was down from 69% a year ago. Crops were drying down before harvesting in the Midwest, with hot and dry weather expected over the next week. For soybeans, uncertainty over US yield potential supported prices after the USDA lowered its condition rating for the nation’s soybean crop on Monday. Brazil’s 2026/27 soybean crop is expected to reach a record 183. 5 million metric tons, brokerage and consultancy StoneX said on Tuesday, raising its estimate from an August forecast of 183. 1 million tons.

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