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Ukraine faces export issues despite resumption of ship inspections
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Corn, soybeans to take direction from U.S. planting
(Adds quote in paragraphs 3-4, updates prices)
By Naveen Thukral
SINGAPORE, April 20 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures
lost more ground on Thursday as supply concerns eased with
inspections of ships carrying Ukrainian grain resuming in the
Black Sea region.
Soybeans fell for a third consecutive session while corn
dipped as agricultural markets faced additional pressure from
weaker crude oil prices.
"Inspections of grain vessels shipped from Ukrainian ports
under the Black Sea Grain Initiative resumed yesterday after
being blocked for two days," ING said in a report.
"This move would have helped ease some supply concerns in
the global market, but there are still risks around these
flows."
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade
(CBOT) fell 0.7% to $6.88-1/4 a bushel, as of 0323 GMT.
Soybeans gave up 0.4% to $14.72-3/4 a bushel and corn lost 0.1% to $6.35-3/4 a bushel.
Inspections of ships carrying Ukrainian grain from the Black
Sea resumed on Wednesday under a UN-brokered deal but Kyiv faces
a struggle to secure an extension of the agreement, as well as a
widening import ban in eastern Europe.
Bulgaria became the fourth European Union member state in
the region to block Ukrainian grain imports, hoping to protect
local farmers following an influx of cheaper supplies since
Russia's invasion of Ukraine 14 months ago.
Russia will have a good grain harvest this year of about 123
million tonnes, including 78 million tonnes of wheat, its
agriculture minister said on Wednesday, indicating the harvest
will be about a fifth less than the record achieved last year.
Russia had a record grain harvest of 153.8 million tonnes in
2022, including over 100 million tonnes of wheat, due to higher
yields and an increase in the area sown.
Oil fell on Thursday as muted U.S. economic data and
expectations of interest rate hikes pushed up the U.S. dollar,
prompting concerns over global oil demand. Oil often directs movement in agricultural markets with
growing use of crops in making biofuels which compete with
petroleum products.
In the United States, weather forecasts pointed to rainfall
next week in some drought-affected U.S. hard red winter wheat
belts, although planting of soybeans and corn was seen
continuing.
A federation of unions representing Argentina's port and
maritime workers lifted a three-day-old strike that had affected
the key Rosario grains shipping hub, the federation said in a
statement on Wednesday.
Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT grain and soy
futures contracts on Wednesday, traders said. (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; editing by Uttaresh
Venkateshwaran)
