MUMBAI: US wheat futures extended losses on Thursday, hit by hopes of a resumption in supplies from the Black Sea region as talks between Ukraine and Russia progressed, while soybeans rose on Argentina’s plan to raise taxes on soybean oil and meal exports.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 3% at $10.36-1/2 a bushel, as of 0453 GMT, after falling by its daily limit of 85 cents in the previous session.
Corn rose 0.41% to $7.33 a bushel, while soybeans advanced 0.41% to $16.56 a bushel.
“Wheat buying has slowed down in the last few days. Buyers are hoping shipments from the Black Sea region could start soon and they don’t need to panic,” said a New Delhi-based dealer with a global trading firm.
Russia and Ukraine, which account for about 29% of global wheat exports, are negotiating and a breakthrough could lead to a ceasefire in the three-week-long war.
Drought and government policies of Argentina have been lending support to soybeans, the dealer said.
Argentina, the world’s top exporter of processed soy products, is weighing raising taxes on soybean oil and meal exports as part of a plan to tamp down sky-high inflation, a government source told Reuters on Wednesday.
French producers of livestock feed have asked the government to guarantee a certain volume of grain is available for their sector in the face of rising export demand linked to the war in Ukraine, the head of feed makers’ association SNIA said.
A sharp drop in crude oil prices this week has been forcing traders to reassess demand for biofuels and likely diversion of food for fuel, said a Mumbai-based grains dealer.
Oil prices climbed on Thursday after the International Energy Agency said markets could lose three million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian crude and refined products from April.
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