Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat and corn futures fell on Thursday, with traders noting the market has already absorbed supply disruptions from the Black Sea region following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine a month ago.
“It feels like the market has priced in that there will be an issue with corn and wheat coming out of Ukraine,” said Chris Robinson, founder of Robinson Ag Marketing.
Soybean futures also were weaker, pressured by a round of profit taking after three straight days of gains pushed the most-active contract to its highest in nearly a month on Wednesday.
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Weakness in crude oil and falling global vegetable oil prices added pressure on the soybean market.
Chicago Board of Trade May soybean futures were down 18 cents at $17.00-3/4 a bushel (all figures US$).
A U.S. Agriculture Department report that showed weekly export sales of soybeans fell to 399,300 tonnes, the lowest since July and well below trade forecasts that ranged from 800,000 to 2.1 million tonnes, weighed on prices.
But a separate USDA announcement, showing private exporters reported the sale of 318,200 tonnes of soybeans to unknown destinations, kept declines in check.
CBOT May corn was down 9-1/2 cents at $7.48-1/4 a bushel.
Weekly export sales of corn totalled 985,600 tonnes, near the low end of estimates for 900,000 to 2.2 million, and wheat export sales came in at 523,000 tonnes compared with forecasts for 200,000 to 900,000.
“This week the exporters seem to have come to the realization that there is still corn out there in the world that is getting offered cheaper than U.S. (supplies),” Charlie Sernatinger, global head of grain futures at ED+F Man Capital, said in a note to clients.
CBOT May wheat shed 20 cents, to $10.85-3/4 a bushel.
— Mark Weinraub is a Reuters commodities correspondent in Chicago; additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
