Chicago wheat futures were slightly lower on Wednesday, despite renewed threats of disruptions in Black Sea supplies due to the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine. The contract was still near its one-week high.

As of 0427 GMT the most active wheat contract on Chicago Board of Trade fell 0.66%, to $5.64 per bushel. However, it was still close to its high since Tuesday's Nov. 12 record.

On Tuesday, Ukraine used U.S. missiles with long range to strike Russian territory. This was done in a bid to take advantage of the permission granted by the Biden administration as the Ukraine war entered its 1,000th day.

Andrew Whitelaw is an analyst with agricultural consultants Episode 3 based in Canberra.

"We expect that the rise in recent sessions will be brief." Whitelaw stated that there was little information available to sustain the rally, unless Putin attacked the grain infrastructure of Ukraine.

In an interview, Taras Vysotskiy, first deputy minister of agriculture in Ukraine, said that the wheat harvest could increase up to 25 millions tons from 22 million tons expected this year due to an increased sowing area.

The soybean contract fell 0.45% to $9.94 per bushel, amid expectations for a bumper harvest in Brazil, the top producer. Corn fell 0.12% to $4.27 per bushel.

In the first forecast of the current season, the oilseed lobby Abiove said that Brazil will harvest 167.7 millions metric tons in 2024/25, a record amount. This should catapult both exports and domestic production to record levels.

Traders said that commodity funds sold soybeans, corn, soyoil, and soymeal contracts at the Chicago Board of Trade on Tuesday and bought wheat futures. (Reporting and editing by Rashmi aich, Eileen Soreng, and Mei Mei Chu)

(source: Reuters)