Wheat eases after gains driven by Black Sea jitters

Chicago wheat futures edged down on Wednesday after the previous day’s rally as traders watched to see if military escalation in the Black Sea would affect grain trade. Soybean futures steadied after a two-day drop as the market continued to assess Chinese demand after a trade truce between Washington and Beijing. Corn eased after hitting a six-month high on Tuesday with support from wheat. The most active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.42% at $5.38-3/4 a bushel by 1330 GMT. The benchmark had gained 1% on Tuesday, rebounding from a three-week low as Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened to cut off Ukraine’s access to the Black Sea after drone attacks on Russia-linked vessels. The escalation unsettled the wheat market, which has been able to rely on large flows of Russian and Ukrainian grain during most of the war in Ukraine. “Some war-risk premium returned to prices; something the market has not seen in a while. The move was modest and, if the ...