Chicago crop futures fell on Wednesday amid apparent easing tensions in the Black Sea region.
Corn, wheat, andf soybean futures all gained the previous day after Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to cut off Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea, potentially impacting the country’s grain shipments. The threat followed Ukrainian drone attacks on Russia’s so-called shadow fleet of tankers. However, an hours-long meeting today between Putin and US officials appears to have calmed those fears.
Corn took back most of the previous day’s advances, with March down 6 ½ cents at $4.43 ½, and new-crop December falling 5 ¾ cents to $4.63 ½.
Soybeans were further undermined by continued uncertainty over Chinese buying. Known Chinese purchases of American supplies via USDA’s daily export sales reporting system are just over 2.25 million tonnes, of the reported 12 million- tonne commitment, which are now expected to be complete by the end of February (versus the end of the calendar year as administration officials previously suggested), according to Barchart. January and new-crop November beans both lost 9 cents to close at $11.15 ¾ and $11.14.
Heavy global supplies continued to overhang wheat. March Chicago lost 2 ¾ cents to $5.38 ¼, and March Kansas City dropped 3 ½ cents to $5.29 ½. March Hard Red Spring was down a penny at $5.64 ¼, and March Minneapolis slipped 4 ½ cents to $5.76 ¼.
