December 27, 2023

Chicago wheat futures at more than two-week high on December 27

Chicago wheat futures gained more ground on December 27, to trade near a more than two-week high reached in the previous session after Ukraine's attack on a Russian naval ship renewed concerns over Black Sea grain supplies.

Soybeans and corn edged lower.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 rose 0.1% to 6.37 a bushel, as of 0108 GMT, trading close to its highest since December 8 reached in the last session.

Soybeans Sv1 fell 0.1% to US$13.17-1/2 a bushel and corn Cv1 gave up 0.1% to US$4.80 a bushel.

Meanwhile, torrential rain is expected to cut wheat planting in France, Germany and Britain in an early setback for next year's European harvest, although conditions are more promising in other countries.

In the soybean market, farmers in Brazil's main agricultural state began harvesting their crop from the 2023/24 cycle, the earliest known start of the bean harvest in Mato Grosso as dry weather sped up crop cycles. Brazil is the world's top soybean exporter.

In another development, high food prices in recent years have prompted farmers worldwide to plant more cereals and oilseeds, but consumers are set to face tighter supplies well into 2024, amid adverse El Nino weather, export restrictions and higher biofuel mandates.

Global wheat, corn and soybean prices - after several years of strong gains - are headed for losses in 2023 on easing Black Sea bottlenecks and fears of a global recession, although markets remain vulnerable to supply shocks and food inflation in the New Year, analysts and traders said.

- Reuters