IKAR in Mass Media

GRAINS-U.S. wheat futures retreat on demand worries, high Russian crop

18 мая 2022 года

* Wheat falls after 2-day rise; soybeans, corn also pull back
* U.N. chief set to disclose talks on Ukraine grain exports

May 18 (Reuters) - U.S. grains futures fell on Wednesday following a report about the United Nation's efforts to restore Ukraine grain shipments and forecasts of ample Russian supplies as worries about high prices curbing demand weighed on sentiment.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres is expected to publicly disclose on Wednesday that he is in talks with Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, the United States and the European Union aimed at restoring Ukraine grain shipments and reviving fertilizer exports from Russia and Belarus, U.N. officials said.

Guterres has warned that the war in Ukraine, which has led to tighter global grains supply and fuelled a surge in prices, will worsen food, energy and economic crises in poor countries.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 was down 2.5% at $12.46 a bushel, as of 1052 GMT.

The contract extended overnight losses after the head of Russian agriculture consultancy IKAR told a conference in Geneva that Russia's 2022/23 wheat crop may reach 85 million tonnes in what he called a "conservative" estimate, and pegged its export potential at 39 million tonnes.

A hefty harvest and higher exports from Russia, one of the world's largest wheat exporters, would help to partly meet shortfalls in wheat supplies in other parts of the world due to the Ukraine war or drought damage.

CBOT wheat had climbed more than 8% over the past two days after India unexpectedly banned exports of the grain and following a U.S. Department of Agriculture report late Monday indicating worsening condition of the U.S. winter crop.

"It appears that tighter supply and higher prices will weigh on global demand," said Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING.

Crop scouts on the first day of an annual three-day tour of Kansas projected an average yield for hard red winter wheat in the northern portion of the drought-hit state at 39.5 bushels per acre, down from 59.2 bushels in 2021.

CBOT corn Cv1 shed 0.4% to $7.97-1/2 a bushel, retreating after touching a two-week high on Monday.

CBOT soybeans Sv1 were unchanged at $16.78 a bushel, after a six-session advance.

Source: Reuters | #grain | Comments: 0 Views: 5

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