Wheat jumps 1.9% on Black Sea supply concerns; corn, soybeans firm

Article content

SINGAPORE — Chicago wheat futures jumped nearly 2% on Monday, underpinned by concerns over the Russia-Ukraine war slowing grain shipments from the Black Sea region.

Corn and soybean futures rose for a second session.

Article content

FUNDAMENTALS

* The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 1.9% at $8.96-3/4 a bushel, as of 0029 GMT. Corn added 0.4% to $6.86 a bushel and soybeans rose 0.4% to 13.72-3/4 a bushel.

* The wheat market is being supported by slowing shipments of Ukraine and Russia, the world’s key grain suppliers.

Article content

* Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of orchestrating the explosion of a key bridge linking Russia and Crimea, an act he described as terrorism.

* The blast on Saturday on the bridge over the Kerch Strait, a key supply route for Moscow’s forces in southern Ukraine, had prompted gleeful messages from Ukrainian officials but no claim of responsibility.

* Lower production in Europe supported corn futures.

* The European Union’s maize harvest is in full swing and field work is confirming widespread drought damage that analysts expect to push the feed grain crop to a 15-year low.

* The European Commission last Friday cut its EU maize crop forecast to 55.5 million tonnes, joining other observers in projecting the lowest volume since 2007.

Article content

* Large speculators raised their net long position in CBOT corn futures in the week ended Oct. 4, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

* The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and cut their net long position in soybeans.

MARKET NEWS

* Stocks slipped in Asia on Monday after a surprise drop in U.S. unemployment quashed any thought of a pivot on policy tightening ahead of a reading on inflation which is expected to see core prices move higher again.

DATA/EVENTS (GMT) No major data/events expected on Monday (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)