Key Takeaways
- Chicago wheat prices rose by almost 1% due to ongoing disruptions in Black Sea exports.
- Corn prices fell slightly due to large US inventories and the upcoming harvest.
- Russia's grain exports are expected to be lower due to continued port closures.
Chicago wheat prices rose by almost 1% on Monday, recovering from a multi-week low, as a lack of progress in restoring Black Sea supplies disrupted by the Russia-Ukraine war supported prices.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) rose 0.9% to $6.89 a bushel, as of 0118 GMT, after dropping to its lowest since mid-August last week.
A Singapore-based wheat trader noted, 'There were some hopes of Black Sea exports resuming but nothing seems to have happened and cargoes are still not moving out.'
Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected proposals for a truce in Black Sea attacks on Thursday, further supporting the wheat market.
Grain consultancy Sovecon cut its forecast for Russia’s 2026/27 grain exports to 44.7 million metric tons, down from 49.4 million tons seen earlier, warning that Azov and Black Sea ports will remain shut until 2027.
The corn market faced pressure as the US Department of Agriculture reported that US farmers and grain handlers had 35% more corn in storage as of September 1 than a year earlier.
Corn prices fell 0.2% to $4.97-1/4 a bushel, while soybeans added 0.2% to $12.80-1/4 a bushel, trading near their lowest levels since mid-August.
The size of this autumn’s US corn and soybean harvests is being debated among traders, who are awaiting crop production and World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates reports from the USDA.
Commodity brokerage StoneX lowered its estimate of the average US 2026 corn yield to 182.1 bushels per acre (bpa) from 182.9 bushels in its previous monthly report released on September 8.
For soybeans, StoneX raised its forecast of the US 2026 yield to 54.1 bpa from its September estimate of 53.0 bpa.
There were some hopes of Black Sea exports resuming but nothing seems to have happened and cargoes are still not moving out.
Singapore-based wheat trader, Tradesman
