CBOT wheat ends lower on optimism about Black Sea de-escalation

Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed lower on Monday on hopes of a de-escalation of the Black Sea conflict that has disrupted grain exports from the region, traders said.

• CBOT December soft red winter wheat WZ26 settled down 3-1/4 cents at $7.22 per bushel after dipping to $7.10, the contract's lowest level since August 26.
• K.C. December hard red winter wheat KWZ26 ended down 6 cents at $7.92-1/2 a bushel, and Minneapolis December spring wheat MWEZ26 fell 8-3/4 cents to finish at $7.36-1/4 a bushel.

Algeria's state grains agency OAIC issued an international tender to buy soft milling wheat to be sourced from optional origins, European traders said on Sunday. The tender sought a nominal 50,000 metric tons but Algeria often buys considerably more than the nominal volume sought.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of U.S. wheat in the latest week at 456,720 metric tons, in line with trade expectations for 300,000 to 500,000 tons.

Ahead of the USDA's weekly crop progress report due on Monday, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the government to report the U.S. winter wheat crop was 8% planted, up from 2% last week, while the spring wheat harvest was seen as 92% complete.

U.S. and European wheat futures turned lower, retreating from early advances, after U.S. President Donald Trump said in a social media post that Ukraine and Russia had agreed not to hit each other's energy targets.