Chicago | Reuters – U.S. wheat futures dropped 4.1 per cent on Friday, with traders locking in profits from a rally sparked by escalations in the Russia-Ukraine war that raised the prospects of export disruptions from the two key global suppliers.
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Corn futures also were weaker, pressured by forecasts that showed more rain and cooler temperatures in the outlook for the U.S. Midwest next week.
Soybean futures were mixed, with tight supplies in the country supporting old-crop contracts while the improved weather view pressured new-crop offerings.
“We are in the mode where we are going to go forecast to forecast,” said Scott Harms, agricultural risk specialist at Archer Financial Services. “If it is a little cooler and wetter, the market is going to back up a touch.”
Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat for September delivery ended down 29-1/2 cents at $6.97-1/2 a bushel. The contract notched a weekly gain of 5.4 per cent.
“There has certainly been a lot of panicking… on global markets this week. Now people are looking at numbers again, and if you look at Russia’s large crop and the good harvests in France and elsewhere in the EU, it doesn’t seem like there is going to be a wheat shortage problem,” a French trader said.
Russia pounded Ukrainian food export facilities for a fourth day in a row on Friday and practised seizing ships in the Black Sea in an escalation of what Western leaders say is an attempt to wriggle out of sanctions by threatening a global food crisis.
The number of ships looking to pick up grain cargoes from the Black Sea area has fallen 35 per cent this week versus the previous week.
CBOT December corn futures CZ3 settled down 10 cents at $5.36-1/4 a bushel and CBOT November soybean futures SX3 were 3 cents lower at $14.01-3/4 a bushel. August soybean futures gained 6 cents to $15.01.
— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago. Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Sinagpore and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris.
