© Archyde.com/SHANNON VANRAES
FILE IMAGE. Spring wheat is harvested on a farm near Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada
Por Julie Ingwersen
CHICAGO, US, March 28 (Archyde.com) – U.S. wheat, corn and soybean futures fell on Monday as concerns regarding coronavirus cases in China weighed on commodity markets as traders adjusted positions. ahead of US crop reports due this week.
* Oil fell sharply as China’s financial hub Shanghai launched a lockdown to contain a surge in COVID-19 cases. The risk of a new economic shock due to the pandemic added more uncertainty to markets that have been dealing with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
* “The broad commodity sell-off continued into midday as fund managers react to the massive COVID lockdowns in China, as well as lingering hopes of success from Ukraine peace talks,” Arlan Suderman wrote. , chief commodity economist at StoneX, in a note to clients.
* Ukraine and Russia were preparing for the first face-to-face peace talks in more than two weeks, but a senior US official said Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared unwilling to make concessions to end the war.
* Ukrainian officials also downplayed the chances of a major breakthrough in the talks, which are to be held in Istanbul.
* By 1748 GMT, Chicago May wheat was down 42 cents at $10.6025 a bushel following falling as low as $10.47, its lowest since March 17. Soybeans for the same month fell 44.75 cents to $16.655 a bushel and corn fell 9.5 cents to $7.445 a bushel.
* CBOT wheat posted the biggest declines in percentage terms, on signs global importers have been able to find adequate supplies of wheat despite disruptions from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
* France will ensure that Egypt, one of the main importers, receives the wheat it needs in the coming months, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said.
* Traders have exported the first supplies of Ukrainian maize to Europe by rail as the country’s seaports remain blocked due to the Russian invasion, agricultural consultancy APK-Inform said on Sunday.
* Meanwhile, the focus was on spring planting in the northern hemisphere, with the war in Ukraine and global uncertainty over fertilizer supplies adding to the nervousness of traders.
* Pending Thursday’s US Department of Agriculture (USDA) planting intentions report, analysts polled by Archyde.com expect US farmers on average to plant less corn and more soybeans this year.
* USDA will also estimate quarterly US grain stocks as of March 1.
(Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris, Hallie Gu in Beijing, and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing in Spanish by Javier López de Lérida)
