PARIS/BEIJING: Chicago wheat prices fell on Monday as investors took profits after last week’s gains but bullish influences remain from prolonged disruption to Russian and Ukrainian exports through the Black Sea.
Corn and soybeans edged higher, supported by firm crude oil and caution over US yield prospects before a widely followed Midwest crop tour this week.
The most active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.7percent at USD6.85 a bushel by 1205 GMT after coming close to the psychological USD7 threshold.
“There’s a bit of profit-taking this morning, but the Black Sea is still a massive issue,” one European trader said of wheat.
Weeks of attacks on shipping by Russia and Ukraine have curtailed shipments, including at Russia’s main grain export hub of Novorossiysk.
The disruption has shifted the market’s attention from ample global supplies — underscored by the US Department of Agriculture in a world crop report last week — towards a possible shortfall in export availability.
“The USDA offered reassurance in last week’s (report) that world wheat stocks remain healthy, but actual flows from the Black Sea are what the world’s importers are looking to see,” said Josh Lawrence, advisory consultant at IKON Commodities.
Traders said loadings at Russia’s Black Sea ports remained reduced while Ukraine was relying on shipments via western neighbours such as Romania.
A Russian attack targeted port infrastructure in Ukraine’s Izmail district on the Danube River, Ukrainian authorities said on Monday.
CBOT soybeans added 0.6percent to USD11.99-1/2 a bushel while CBOT corn rose 0.6percent to USD4.86-1/4 a bushel.
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