Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures ended higher on Tuesday after falling to a five-year low on abundant global supplies. Top wheat exporter Russia has accelerated shipments in the past months after a slow start, and pressure from global harvests has been building.
Corn futures chopped up and down but remained under pressure from the ongoing U.S. harvest, while soy traders remained unsure whether a potential Washington-Beijing trade deal would revive Chinese purchases of U.S. beans.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade settled 3-1/2 cents higher to $5.00-1/4 per bushel after touching its lowest since August 2020 at $4.92-3/4 a bushel.
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Soybeans settled 1-1/4 cents lower to $10.06-1/2 per bushel, and corn settled 2-1/4 cents higher to $4.13 per bushel.
Consultants Sovecon last week raised their Russian wheat production estimate to 87.8 million tonnes from 87.2 million tonnes, reflecting record yields in Siberia.
Traders also expect large harvests in Argentina and Australia to hit the market over the coming months.
Crop conditions in most major wheat producers have been benign this year, though consistent rainfall in parts of China is disrupting its harvest.
In soybeans, attention is locked on China, the biggest soybean importer, which has halted purchases from the United States and is buying from South America instead.
U.S. President Donald Trump appeared over the weekend to dash hopes of a trade deal but he and other U.S. officials have softened their rhetoric.
“Things aren’t getting significantly better with China yet,” said Sherman Newlin, broker at Risk Management Commodities. “People are waiting for some sort of trade deal to maybe happen.”
Meanwhile, an ongoing government shutdown that has deprived market players of crucial data on exports, demand and harvest progress has made traders wary about making big moves in the market.
