Chicago | Reuters—Chicago benchmark wheat futures WN24 fell more than two per cent on Monday, snapping a seven-session rally, as the crop outlook in top exporter Russia improved on forecasts for rain, analysts said.
The Chicago Board of Trade’s most active wheat contract Wv1 settled down 13-3/4 cents at $6.08-1/2 per bushel.
“That little indication of possible rain in Russia after a rally was enough to spook people,” said Brian Basting, an analyst at Advance Trading.
Despite the tumble, Chicago wheat futures remain above the 100-day moving average, while Kansas City wheat futures ticked down only slightly with more of top wheat growing state Kansas in drought, supporting hard red winter wheat prices.
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A weekly crop progress report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed 49 per cent of winter wheat rated in good to excellent condition, down a point from last week.
Soybean futures gained support from a strike by oilseed workers in Argentina, while corn futures ticked down on spillover weakness from wheat.
CBOT July soybean futures SN24 settled up 4-3/4 cents at $11.82 per bushel and corn CN24 settled down 3/4 cent at $4.49-1/4 per bushel.
Argentina’s SOEA oilseed workers’ union kicked off a strike on Monday to protest a labor reform bill backed by President Javier Milei.
“Argentina has been producing extra meal and aggressively discounting that to the world, which is undercutting the U.S., said Randy Place, analyst with Hightower Report. “The strike limits the export potential for the next several days, which gives us the chance to get more export business.”
Place noted that concerns around the bird flu potentially resulting in cattle culling is hanging over corn futures. The United States said on Monday it is collecting samples of ground beef at retail stores in states with outbreaks of bird flu in dairy cows for testing but remains confident the meat supply is safe.
“It’s a cloud over the market that’s there every time we hear another state getting affected,” Place said
—Additional reporting for Reuters by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Peter Hobson in Canberra
