Chicago wheat prices eased Monday due to ample supplies. The market gave up gains made earlier by concerns over Black Sea shipments.

Corn fell, but soybeans rose.

One grains trader from Singapore said that the market for wheat was initially supported by the escalations around Black Sea, but now it is down as there are no major issues with supply. Prices will rise if exports are affected.

As of 0431 GMT the most active wheat contract on Chicago Board of Trade lost 0.1%, falling to $5.64-1/4 per bushel. Corn fell by 0.2%, to $4.34-1/2 per bushel. After dropping to the lowest price since October 21 on Friday, soybeans gained 0.4% and are now $9.87-1/2 per bushel.

Russia launched a hypersonic ballistic missile last week at Dnipro, Ukraine in response to the U.S. allowing Kyiv use advanced Western weapons to attack Russian territory. They warned that there could be more launches.

Short covering was prompted by the strike, which raised concerns about grain supplies in the Black Sea region.

Last week, the International Grains Council lowered its forecast of 2024/25 wheat production globally by 2 million metric tones to 796 millions tons. This was largely due to a deteriorating outlook for Europe.

Soybeans hit a record low of more than a month on Friday. The weather in South America and the China-Brazil deal could reduce U.S. agricultural imports to Asia.

The Brazilian agriculture ministry announced on Wednesday that China has granted Brazil permission for exports of sorghum and fresh grapes to Chinese buyers.

According to the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange, the soybean planting for 2024/25 in Argentina has progressed 16 percentage points over the last week. It now accounts for 35.8% out of the 18,6 million hectares that are projected for this season.

The data from the Friday release of regulatory information showed that large speculators reduced their net long positions in Chicago Board of Trade Corn Futures during the week ending Nov. 19.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments report of traders also revealed that noncommercial traders - a group that includes hedge fund traders - increased their net long position in CBOT soybeans and their net short positions in wheat. (Reporting and editing by Rashmi aich; Naveen Thukral)

(source: Reuters)