Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures ended lower on Thursday as cheap Black Sea exports kept weighing on the market, which had risen overnight on a rally sparked by a Russian attack on Ukrainian port infrastructure.
Chicago soybean futures Sv1 ticked down on falling soy oil prices and technical trading, while corn futures eased on expectations for a record U.S. corn crop as well as strength in the U.S. dollar, which can make U.S. exports less competitive.
The Chicago Board of Trade’s most-active wheat contract Wv1settled down 6-1/2 cents to $5.28-1/4 per bushel.
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Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures hit their highest level in more than a week on Thursday as technical buying helped the market recover from a three-month low reached on Monday, analysts said.
Russia attacked the port infrastructure in Ukraine’s southern city of Odesa on Wednesday evening, injuring at least two people.
Most-active soybeans Sv1ended the day unchanged at $9.68-1/2 per bushel, and corn Cv1ended down 3-3/4 cents at $3.97 per bushel.
Some soybean traders see futures as somewhat oversold, at least in the short-term, after worries about hefty global supplies saw the November contract SX24 plunge by nearly $1 over the past couple of weeks, said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting.
Traders spent much of the session consolidating their positions ahead of next week’s ProFarmer crop tour, analysts said.
The annual tour of U.S. Midwest corn and soy fields is widely expected to find record yields, said Randy Place, analyst at Hightower Report, said.
“There’s not enough bullish news to offset the negatives” in both the corn and soybean markets, Place said.
Lackluster demand from top importer China and non-threatening U.S. weather also has continued to pressure prices.
“It’ll be tough to see a higher trade,” Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics, said.
The USDA reported net weekly U.S. soybean export sales of 1,344,200 metric tons for 2024-25, topping analysts’ expectations for 400,000 to 1,000,000 metric tons.
—Additional reporting for Reuters by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Naveen Thukral in Singapore
