Wheat and soybeans decline, while corn rises in Chicago on Wednesday

On Wednesday, October 21, wheat and soybean futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) ended the session lower, while corn prices edged higher. Wheat recorded the sharpest decline, with prices falling to an 11-week low. December soft red winter wheat futures in Chicago dropped by 2.33% to $230.84/t. Meanwhile, hard red winter wheat futures in Kansas City declined to $247.28/t, while spring wheat futures in Minneapolis fell to $239.38/t.

Wheat prices came under additional pressure following reports of a possible resumption of trilateral negotiations between Ukraine, the United States and Russia. Market participants assessed the potential implications for Black Sea grain exports, which have faced significant restrictions over the past two months. Traders were also awaiting the upcoming USDA export sales report for US wheat. Sales for the week ending October 15 were expected to range between 250 and 550 thsd tons.

Unlike wheat, corn futures in Chicago posted modest gains. December contracts rose by 0.27% to $182.38/t, while March futures closed at $4.77 per bushel. The market received support from reports of international purchases, including Taiwan’s tender purchase of 65 thsd tons of corn, reportedly of Brazilian origin. Meanwhile, traders expected weekly US corn export sales to reach 0.7–1.5 mln tons.

Soybean futures ended the session lower amid selling by investment funds and accelerating harvesting of a large US crop. November contracts declined by 0.24% to $457.54/t, while January futures fell to $12.58 per bushel. Despite the downward price trend, USDA reported new export sales of 134 thsd tons of US soybeans to China and 165 thsd tons to Spain. Analysts expected total weekly US soybean export sales to range between 1.8 and 3 mln tons.

European grain markets also closed Wednesday mostly lower. On the Paris-based MATIF exchange, December milling wheat futures dropped by 3.52% to €232.75/t ($261.29/t). November corn futures declined by 1.08% to €291.25/t ($326.96/t), while March contracts stood at €268.50/t.

Tags: corn, grain, soybean, oilseeds, wheat, global market