CBOT wheat hits 2-year-high amid Black Sea tensions
WEAT•CBOT wheat settlement prices
CBOT December soft red winter wheat WZ26 futures settled 1/4 cent higher to $6.99-1/2 a bushel.
K.C. December hard red winter wheat KWZ26 fell 5-1/4 cents to $7.67-1/4 per bushel.
December spring wheat MWEZ26 settled 3-1/4 cents lower to $7.21-1/4 per bushel.
US crop expectations and harvest progress
Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected the U.S. Department of Agriculture to lower its weekly spring wheat crop ratings to 51% good to excellent, from 52% a week ago. Analyst forecasts ranged from 49% to 53% good-to-excellent.
The spring wheat harvest was seen as more than halfway finished, with an average analyst estimate of 57% complete.
The winter wheat harvest is virtually over, with the USDA reporting harvest progress at 96% as of August 16.
Wheat futures rise on Black Sea export concerns
Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures hit the highest point in around two years before paring gains on Monday as tit-for-tat attacks by Russia and Ukraine curtailed exports from Black Sea ports.
Wheat was pressured on Monday after Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said there will be a "diplomatic track" with Russia in discussing Moscow's stepped-up attacks in the Black Sea. Black Sea wheat exports have been severely curtailed amid escalating attacks in the region.
"There is no total blockade today, but there is an attempt at one. Nevertheless, three or four ships a day are entering and leaving Greater Odesa," Zelenskiy said.
The Kremlin said that measures were being taken to minimize the impact of Ukrainian strikes on Russia's grain exports as global wheat importers brace for tighter supplies amid attacks on Black Sea grain infrastructure.
