JAKARTA: Chicago wheat fell on Friday after concerns over Black Sea supplies pushed the contract to a near one-week high in the previous session, but was set to book a first monthly gain in three months.
Ukrainian drones have attacked a sunflower oil export facility at Russia’s port of Taman in the Kerch Strait, three agricultural market sources told Reuters on Thursday.
“Shipowners, insurers and exporters may become increasingly reluctant to operate in the region, lifting freight costs and slowing the movement of grain,” said Andrew Whitelaw at Australian agricultural consultancy Episode 3.
Wheat fell 1.02% to $6.56-3/4 a bushel as of 0338 GMT after it surged to $6.87 a bushel in the previous session.
US wheat rises on Black Sea disruptions
The corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade gained 0.11% to $4.69 a bushel and was on track for a monthly gain, snapping two consecutive monthly losses.
Its most-active soybean contract rose 0.46% to $11.94-1/4 a bushel, snapping two straight sessions of losses as forecast of rain in the US Midwest near the end of the week, which is vital for the soybean crop as it reaches the pod-setting phase of its development, weighed on the contract in the previous sessions.
“With the weather looking better as the calendar turns to August and managed funds are sitting on a sizable net long, there is risk of more weakness in the near term,” a grains brokerage said in its note.
Exporters sold 132,000 metric tons of US soybeans to China for delivery in the 2026/27 marketing year, the US Department of Agriculture said in its daily reporting system.
The European Commission on Thursday cut its forecast for usable production of most grain and oilseeds in the European Union in 2026/27, including an 8% output drop for soft wheat and a 14% production drop for grain maize compared to 2025/26.
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