Wheat and Corn Futures Plummet Amid Global Crop Concerns
Wheat futures saw significant losses at the end of the week, with September SRW wheat falling by 24 1/4 cents to $6.39 1/4 and September HRW wheat down 23 1/4 cents to $7.07 1/2.
The market's bulls had no traction from reports that Russia's main grain lobby group warned of potential disruptions to grain exports via the Black Sea, due to Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian ships and ports.
Corn futures also took a hit, with December corn falling by 4 1/2 cents to $4.64 and hitting a two-week low. This comes as traders are still reeling from last week's USDA crop progress report, which showed a 4 percentage point drop in good-to-excellent condition ratings.
Analysts expect the weekly USDA crop progress reports on Monday afternoons to provide key insights into what USDA will release in its initial yield forecast on August 12. The market is also watching for signs of increased demand from China, with 264,000 MT of flash sales announced this week.