Chicago wheat flat after Ukraine strike raises Black Sea export concerns

Chicago wheat futures were little changed on Thursday, holding near the previous session's sharp rise. That rally followed a Ukrainian strike on grain terminals at the Russian port of Novorossiysk, which raised worries about Black Sea grain shipments. According to Business Recorder, the most-traded CBOT contract eased 0.2% to $6.51-1/4 a bushel early in the session after gaining 3.6% on Wednesday.

Prices are being restrained by strong Northern Hemisphere harvests, according to Commonwealth Bank analyst Dennis Voznesenski, who noted that the combined Russian, Ukrainian and Romanian harvest ranked third-largest on record. He said global wheat prices could fall notably if logistical export limits are lifted. Corn fell 0.6% to $4.77-3/4 a bushel, having jumped 4.4% to a fortnight high on Wednesday, while soybeans were unchanged at $11.81-3/4 after a 1.2% rise in the previous session.

Separately, the Rosario grain exchange lifted its Argentine harvest forecast to record-high levels. The USDA expects American growers to bring in the second-largest corn crop ever recorded this autumn, as larger plantings outweighed lower yields. It also cut its end-of-season US stocks estimate to 1.653 billion bushels, down from 1.790 billion bushels earlier.