Wheat eases after rally, Russia-Ukraine conflict limits decline

Chicago wheat futures edged lower on Thursday, as investors took a breather after a more than 3% jump in the previous session on concerns over the Russia-Ukraine war and adverse weather in key exporting countries.

Corn and soybean prices slid.

“Ukraine’s president worrying aloud that Russia will impede grain flows from his nation after November amplified the price gains (on Wednesday),” said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

“The market’s ongoing worries about Ukraine’s export corridor moved from nascence to reality with those comments.”

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) lost 0.1% to $9.02-1/2 a bushel, as of 0039 GMT.

Corn gave up 0.1% to $6.69-3/4 a bushel and soybeans lost 0.1% to $14.06-3/4 a bushel.

Escalating conflict between top grain exporters Russia and Ukraine raised concerns over supplies from the Black Sea region.

Russia is poised to annex a swath of Ukraine after what Kyiv and the West denounced as illegal sham referendums held at gunpoint.

Ukraine’s grain exports are down 41.5% year-on-year in the 2022/23 season so far at almost 8 million tonnes, but the pace of shipments is increasing gradually, agriculture ministry data showed on Wednesday.

The country’s grain exports have slumped since Russia invaded in February because its Black Sea ports were closed off, driving up global food prices and prompting fears of shortages in Africa and the Middle East.

Dry conditions persist in the southern U.S. Plains, inhibiting the planting of the 2023 winter wheat crop, while the harvest pace has lagged in parts of Canada.

In Manitoba, the fall harvest was only 47% complete, behind the five-year average of 79%, the provincial government said in a weekly report.

In South America, the Buenos Aires grains exchange projected that Argentine wheat production would fall nearly 22% from a year ago to 17.5 million tonnes due to drought.

Bearish weekly U.S. ethanol data provided headwinds to corn prices. The U.S. Energy Information Administration said weekly production of corn-based ethanol fell last week to 855,000 barrels per day, a 19-month low, while stockpiles rose to 22.691 million barrels.

The market awaits direction from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s quarterly U.S. grain stocks and annual small grains reports, both due on Friday.

Brazilian soybean processors have temporarily halted units as crushing margins turned negative, reflecting weak domestic demand for biodiesel and high vegetable oil inventories.

Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT wheat, corn and soybean futures contracts on Wednesday and net sellers of soyoil and soymeal futures, traders said.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)