Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rose for a fifth session on Wednesday as worries about the escalation of hostilities in the Black Sea export zone and severe cold in Russian wheat belts encouraged short-covering before the Christmas break, traders and analysts said.
Corn futures edged up on robust demand and on strength in the wheat market, while soy also ticked higher on positioning ahead of the holidays.
Gains remained moderate, with ample global supplies hanging over grain markets after multi-week lows in prices last week and in light pre-holiday trade.
Read Also
U.S. livestock: CME cattle tick lower in thin pre-holiday trade
Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle futures were little changed but ended slightly lower on…
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 settled 4-3/4 cents higher at $5.21-3/4 per bushel.
Russian attacks on Ukrainian ports have reinforced short-covering by investors that typically occurs before the year-end holidays.
“If those headlines become more impactful and disrupt the flow of exports, you’ll have a recipe for wheat prices to move higher,” said Jason Ward, director at Northstar Commodity. “It’s gotten enough headline attention that managed money is tucking some profit away.”
While winterkill remains a concern for the Black Sea wheat crop, snow cover should initially protect winter wheat in Russia from frost damage on Wednesday, while snow is set to spread in the next two weeks in Russia and Ukraine, Commodity Weather Group said in a note.
Bumper volumes expected from ongoing harvests in Argentina and Australia are set to bolster global supply for the rest of the 2025/26 season.
CBOT soybeans Sv1 settled 11-3/4 cents higher at $10.63-1/4 a bushel. Corn Cv1 settled 3-1/2 cents higher at $4.51 per bushel.
In the soybean market, traders remained cautious about the pace of Chinese purchases of U.S. beans under a bilateral trade truce, while forecasters continued to project another record harvest in Brazil this season.
The corn market, in addition to tracking strength in wheat, remained supported by brisk U.S. exports.
-Additional reporting by Daphne Zhang in Beijing, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral.
