Chicago wheat inched higher on Monday as the market focused on risks to Black Sea grain exports after Russia rejected the idea of a ceasefire with Ukraine, while concerns over dry conditions in the southern U.S. Plains also supported prices.
The most-active wheat contract Wv1 on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) gained 0.04% to $6.89-3/4 a bushel by 0405 GMT, extending its rally to a fourth straight session.
Russia launched a wave of airstrikes on Ukraine over the weekend, killing two people at a steel plant. Kyiv, meanwhile, carried out a major drone attack on the Moscow region that killed one person and set fire to a warehouse used by Russia's leading e-commerce retailer.
"The USDA offered reassurance in last week's WASDE that world wheat stocks remain healthy, but actual flows from the Black Sea are what the world's importers are looking to see," said Josh Lawrence, advisory consultant at IKON Commodities.
Dryness in the southern U.S. Plains remains a concern, with planting of the 2027 winter wheat crop expected to begin in about a month.
Soybeans and corn move on demand and USDA estimates
Soybeans Sv1 eased 0.06% to $11.91-3/4 a bushel, while corn Cv1 rose 0.26% to $4.84-1/2 a bushel.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture last week raised its 2026 U.S. corn and soybean acreage estimates while lowering its yield forecasts in a monthly report.
Traders are also watching a major field tour this week for further indications of U.S. corn and soybean yield prospects.
Firm Chinese demand continued to support soybeans. Traders told Reuters last week that China had already purchased about 7 million metric tons of U.S. soybeans.
China's Sinograin said on Friday that it would auction 360,000 tons of imported soybeans on Wednesday, its fourth sale since late July, in a move expected to free up storage space for incoming U.S. supplies.
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