Wheat, corn fall as Ukraine-Russia talks boost hopes of ceasefire



FILE IMAGE.  Spring wheat is harvested on a farm near Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada


© Archyde.com/SHANNON VANRAES
FILE IMAGE. Spring wheat is harvested on a farm near Beausejour, Manitoba, Canada

Por Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO, March 29 (Archyde.com) – U.S. wheat and corn futures fell more than 3% on Tuesday, following comments from Russia and Ukraine following talks in Turkey raised hopes of a ceasefire in the war that has disrupted grain exports through the Black Sea region.

* However, the wheel was volatile, with benchmark May wheat futures on the Chicago Stock Exchange trading in a 96-cent range from a session high of $10.6825 to a low of $9.72 per bushel.

* Both CBOT wheat and corn briefly fell below their respective daily limits before paring losses.

* At 1801 GMT, CBOT May wheat was down 39 cents at $10.18 a bushel. May corn fell 25 cents to $7.2350 a bushel and May soybeans fell 20.25 cents to $16.44 a bushel.

* The wheat market has been especially turbulent since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Both countries are major exporters of corn, and Ukraine is also a major world supplier of corn.

* Russia has promised to scale back military operations around the capital and northern Ukraine, and kyiv has proposed adopting neutral status, in confidence-building measures that were the first signs of progress toward peace.

* Grain futures fell along with oil in a “knee-jerk reaction” to that news, said Jack Scoville, a market analyst at Price Futures Group in Chicago.

* However, wheat and corn trimmed losses as some investors saw a buying opportunity as global grain supplies were shrinking even before the Russian invasion began.

* “We were very much up because of this war, and now maybe the war is going away, so we’re pulling back a little bit. But that doesn’t change the fact that the overall situation is still tight,” Scoville said.

* Traders continue to adjust their positions pending the US Department of Agriculture’s quarterly planting intentions and stocks reports due Thursday.

(Edited in Spanish by Javier Leira)

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