Wheat falls as markets monitor Black Sea export prospects

Business Recorder reported that Chicago wheat slipped on Monday as traders assessed whether diplomacy could ease disruption to Black Sea grain exports from Russia and Ukraine. The benchmark CBOT wheat contract slid 0.32 per cent to $7.01 per bushel as of 0140 GMT, while corn dropped 0.4 per cent and soybeans held flat.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy stated on Friday that talks on reopening Black Sea shipping now include India, Turkey, Egypt and several Middle Eastern nations. Turkey has made proposals to Moscow on ship safety, but no substantive negotiations are under way. Market participants are counting on a truce to restart cargo flows, which have nearly stopped in the region. A Reuters analysis suggests Russia could bring up to 80 per cent of its grain terminal capacity back quickly under a ceasefire.

Analysts said a blockade of key Ukrainian ports cut exports sharply at the height of harvest, while ongoing strikes on ports and ships have dampened hopes for a rebound. Importers across Asia, the Middle East and Africa are looking elsewhere for grain. A French vessel loaded about 60,000 tons of wheat bound for Yemen, the first cargo of that kind in four years, according to LSEG figures from Friday. Argentine farmers have benefited from the Black Sea disruption, selling more than 1 million tons of corn a week for four straight weeks.