Wheat Prices Rise Due to Black Sea Tensions and Weak U.S Dollar

Wheat prices rose on Monday. This happened because of rising tensions in the Black Sea region, a weaker U.S. dollar, and concerns about wheat production around the world.

Traders said these factors led to speculative short-covering.

At the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), July soft red winter wheat rose by 5 cents. It ended at $5 per bushel.

K.C. July hard red winter wheat also climbed 6.5 cents to $5.39-3/4 a bushel. Minneapolis July spring wheat went up 1.75 cents to $6.27-1/4 a bushel.

Russia and Ukraine met for direct peace talks in Istanbul on Monday. It was only their second round of direct talks since 2022. However, no progress was made. The talks started just one day after Ukraine struck Russian-bombers deep inside Russia.

Many traders are now watching for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s weekly crop report. It was expected to show improved ratings for U.S. spring wheat. But last week’s report had shown lower-than-expected ratings.

No major changes are expected in U.S. winter wheat.

The USDA also published export numbers. In the past week, 552,910 metric tons of U.S. wheat were inspected for export.

Meanwhile, Australia expects its wheat production to fall by 10% this year. But still, the production is above the 10-year average, according to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES).

In another development, Egypt’s state grain buyer, Mostakbal Misr, agreed to buy about 180,000 metric tons of French wheat in April. This deal comes from two major European trading companies. It shows that global sellers are starting to trust this new Egyptian buyer.