PARIS/BEIJING: Chicago soybean, wheat and corn futures slipped for a second consecutive session on Wednesday, pressured by a decline in oil prices after Qatar said mediators were making progress in efforts to end the US-Iran war.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.87percent to USD11.67-1/2 a bushel at 0614 GMT.
Corn declined 1.34percent to USD4.59-1/4 a bushel while wheat was 0.04percent down to USD6.38-1/4 a bushel.
Brent crude futures hit their lowest price in more than three weeks on Wednesday at USD78.11 a barrel but reversed losses in later stage after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi rebels said they attacked a Saudi oil tanker in the Red Sea.
Agricultural product prices are often influenced by energy markets, given the rapidly growing use of farm goods in biofuel production.
Ample global supplies, including the prospect of large Black Sea harvests, continued to weigh on wheat prices.
Markets also maintained focus on potential risks to Black Sea grain exports from ongoing hostilities between Russia and Ukraine.
Ukraine’s agriculture minister said on Tuesday alternative export routes would not reach the necessary capacity until at least the end of August, and would handle only about half the volume normally shipped through Black Sea ports affected by Russian attacks.
A strike by maritime pilots paralysed Argentina’s ports on Tuesday, blocking ship movements and disrupting trade in one of the world’s leading grain suppliers, according to local business chambers.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed private sales of 132,000 metric tons of US soybeans for delivery to China in the 2026/27 marketing year that begins on September 1, 2026.
The sale followed Beijing’s unusually large purchase of about 1 million tons of US soybeans on Friday, Reuters reported, citing sources. The USDA confirmed part of the deal on Monday.
Commodity brokerage StoneX on Tuesday projected US 2026 corn production at 16.160 billion bushels, with an average yield of 184.8 bushels per acre.
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