Wheat soars after US efforts to end Black Sea conflicts yield little progress
WEAT•Broader market backdrop
Oil prices extended gains on Tuesday as risks of a prolonged conflict in the Middle East grew after Iran threatened to retaliate against any new U.S. attacks on its assets, heightening worries over supply disruption.
Black Sea export risks remain elevated
U.S. peace envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv over the weekend, but their diplomatic efforts did not appear to secure a breakthrough in ending the war.
Traders said the visit by the U.S. envoys to Russia did not seem to have resulted in a peace breakthrough to enable Ukrainian and Russian grain exports to resume.
Tit-for-tat attacks by Russia and Ukraine on each other's ports and shipping have brought the countries' Black Sea exports to a near halt, prompting buyers to look for alternatives.
Market participants remain on edge over the risks of a prolonged interruption to Russian and Ukrainian grain exports from the Black Sea region.
Soybeans have been supported by Chinese purchases of U.S. soybeans and concerns over hot, dry weather in key U.S. growing areas. Expectations for poor yields in the U.S. Corn Belt have kept a floor on corn futures.
Wheat futures rise on stalled peace efforts
Chicago wheat futures jumped on Tuesday, supported by scant signs of progress from a U.S. diplomatic push to end the Ukrainian war, which has disrupted shipments out of the Black Sea region.
The most-traded wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 jumped 2.9% at by . CBOT corn gained to , while soybeans rose to .
