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Wheat futures hit 20-month low
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Black Sea corridor and U.S, Europe rain ease supply
worries
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Another flash sale of U.S. corn to China
(Updates prices, changes headline, adds quotes, changes byline,
changes dateline from previous PARIS/SINGAPORE)
By Cassandra Garrison
MEXICO CITY, March 22 (Reuters) - Chicago grains futures
fell on Wednesday, with wheat hitting a 20-month low, on the
continuation of a wartime Black Sea export deal and with markets
cautious ahead of the Federal Reserve's policy decision.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade
(CBOT) , pressured by Brazil's ongoing harvest, fell 2.23%
to $6.68-1/4 a bushel by 1028 CDT (1528 GMT), rebounding from
$6.54 earlier in the session, its lowest since July 2021.
Futures were also weighed down by timely rains in France and
elsewhere in western Europe, which eased concerns over dry
conditions for their wheat crops.
CBOT corn futures were down 0.08% to $6.29-1/2 a
bushel, while soybeans were down 0.9% at $14.53-1/2 a
bushel.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported 178,000 tonnes of corn in private sales to China. Traders said much of the market's attention is on the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later on Wednesday, in the wake of turmoil in the banking sector. Traders were split over whether the Fed will be forced to pause its hiking cycle as efforts continue to stabilise battered banking stocks. "Ahead of the Fed, there is a risk-off sentiment in the markets. Traders are still heavily long," said Tom Dosdall, a commodities broker at Daniels Trading. "There's still some talk about the Black Sea corridor opening up," he added.
The Black Sea grains deal, allowing the safe export of grain from Ukrainian and Russian Black Sea ports, was renewed on Saturday. Investors were not showing immediate concern about the prospect of a sharp fall in Ukraine's 2023 grain harvest, and signs of late weather damage to India's crop. Traders were also digesting delayed data on positions held by participants in CBOT futures for the week to March 14, which showed large speculators increased their net short position in corn. (Reporting by Cassandra Garrison in Mexico City, Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Louise Heavens, Kirsten Donovan)
