Wheat pauses rally driven by Black Sea attacks
WEAT•Wheat pulls back after rally to two-year high
Chicago wheat fell on Thursday as investors took profits when contracts climbed to a two-year high after attacks on grain vessels and port infrastructure in the Black Sea region prompted ship owners to suspend port arrivals.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) (Wv1) settled down 9-1/2 cents at $6.96-1/4 per bushel, after reaching the highest since May 2024.
The wheat rally took a pause, said Randy Place, an analyst at the Hightower Report, on profit-taking after being driven by an uptick in hostilities in the Black Sea.
Ukraine's agriculture minister said ship owners had temporarily suspended vessel arrivals at Ukraine's Black Sea ports for agricultural exports after a recent surge in Russian attacks on ports and merchant shipping.
Three traders said ship owners had taken similar decisions at Russia's Black Sea ports. Reuters could not immediately confirm the information.
Market participants in Russia said operations in Novorossiysk as well as in the ports of Taman and Tuapse were up and running by the morning after the overnight suspension of vessels' entry and exit.
