Russia-Ukraine Conflict Sends Wheat Futures Soaring
Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rose on Monday, driven by concerns over Russia and Ukraine's conflict disrupting Black Sea exports. The conflict has already cut into Ukrainian wheat exports, with Russian wheat shipments also affected.
Corn and soybean futures turned higher as well, though prices remain under pressure due to the decline in crude oil and recent rainfall in parts of the US Midwest. A technical bounce in the wheat market was bolstered by weather worries, according to analysts. Don Roose, president of US Commodities, noted that Europe, the US, and Australia are all facing dry or drought conditions.
The soybean market saw a choppy day early on but picked up by mid-morning after fresh export news. The US Department of Agriculture confirmed private sales of 488,000 metric tons of US soybeans to China and an additional 136,150 tons to unknown destinations for delivery in the 2026/27 marketing year.
CBOT's most active wheat was up 0.9% to $6.45 a bushel at 10:28am CDT (1528 GMT), while corn rose 0.97% to $4.68-1/2 a bushel and soybeans increased 0.08% to $11.88-1/2 a bushel.