Chicago wheat extends rally on Black Sea conflict concerns
DBA•Conflict concerns support multi-year highs
Wheat futures hit their daily limit and set fresh multi-year highs in the last session on news that Russia is considering stepping up ballistic missile strikes on Kyiv.
Russia's strikes could include targets in the city centre of Kyiv, and on critical infrastructure elsewhere in Ukraine after concluding that efforts to negotiate a peace deal have reached a dead end.
The escalating tensions have cast uncertainty over global availability. Attacks over the last months have halted almost all grain shipments through the ports in the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, which used to account for 70% of all Russian grain exports.
A virtual halt to grain loadings at Russian and Ukrainian Black Sea ports due to tit-for-tat attacks in recent weeks has cast doubt over flows of Russian wheat and Ukrainian corn.
Egypt remains heavily reliant on Black Sea supplies
Egypt, the world's largest wheat importer, sourced more than 80% of its wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine in the first half of 2026.
Wheat futures extend rally as Black Sea tensions rise
Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) extended their rally on Thursday on the prospect of Russia increasing strikes on Kyiv, which could cause further export disruptions in the major global grain-production region.
Corn and soybeans fell.
The most-traded wheat contract on the CBOT Wv1 gained 1.7% at $761-1/2 a bushel at 0203 GMT. CBOT corn cv1 lost 0.3% at $534-3/4 a bushel. Soybeans Sv1 were down 0.5% at $12.59-1/2 a bushel.
