Chicago wheat jumps on Black Sea disruptions, big Saudi purchase

HAMBURG: Chicago wheat rose on Monday, recovering from six-week lows hit last week, as a lack of progress in restoring Black Sea shipments disrupted by the Russia-Ukraine war and a major Saudi wheat purchase supported prices.

Corn and soybeans also rose after recent weakness, but their prices were pressured by forecasts of dry weather this week, which would help US harvests. Strong US exports, especially to China, also supported soybeans.

“There were some hopes of Black Sea exports resuming, but nothing seems to have happened and cargoes are still not moving out,” said one Singapore-based trader.

Chicago Board of Trade most-active wheat (CBOT) gained 1.7 percent to USD6.94-3/4 a bushel at 1109 GMT. Corn rose 0.5 percent to USD 5.00-1/4 a bushel and soybeans increased 0.7 percent to USD12.87-3/4 a bushel.

A lack of progress in diplomatic efforts to restore normal shipping through the Black Sea supported wheat prices, with Russian and Ukrainian ship-borne Black Sea exports still at a virtual standstill and Ukraine signalling more attacks on Russian oil refineries. “Saudi Arabia’s purchase takes well over half a million tons out of the market at a time of restricted Black Sea supplies,” one European trader said.

“US wheat is unlikely to be involved in the Saudi deal but overall a big bite has been taken out of export supplies.”

The size of this autumn’s US corn and soybean harvests was debated by traders, who await crop production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates reports from the US Department of Agriculture on October 9.

Commodity brokerage StoneX last week lowered its estimate of the average US 2026 corn yield to 182.1 bushels per acre from 182.9 bushels in its previous monthly report released on September 8.