Chicago wheat, soybeans, corn drop on weak export demand

SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat slid more than 1% on Monday, leading losses across grains including soybeans and corn, as concerns over weak export demand weighed on prices, though firm crude oil prices limited the downside.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) fell 1.3% to $5.90-1/2 a bushel by 0445 GMT, soybeans eased 0.3% to $11.60 a bushel and corn lost 0.7% to $4.49 a bushel.

“There is a lack of buying interest from end users as there is so much uncertainty over the war and oil prices,” said one trader in Singapore. “This is putting some pressure on prices.”

Sluggish export demand for US products continues to pressure prices. The US Department of Agriculture said on Thursday that US corn export sales for the week ended March 26 fell to 1.1 million metric tons, down 20% from the prior four-week average.

Analysts had expected sales of 900,000 tons-1.6 million tons.

Weekly US soybean export sales dropped to 353,300 tons, down 18% from the prior four-week average, the USDA said.

Analysts had forecast sales of 300,000-700,000 tons. Concerns over a possible escalation of the Iran war and prolonged disruptions to oil supplies limited the decline in grain and oilseed prices, which are increasingly being used to make alternative fuels.

Separately, global food prices climbed in March to their highest since September 2025 and could rise further if the war in the Middle East that has pushed up energy prices persists, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said on Friday.

Higher energy prices get priced into the cost of food both through more expensive transport and because of more costly and less available fertiliser, which hits crop yields.

Large speculators cut their net long position in CBOT corn futures in the week to March 31, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, including hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat, while raising net long position in soybeans.