Wheat Hits Lowest Since June Ahead of Black Sea Peace Talks

(Bloomberg) -- Wheat futures touched the lowest since the end of June as traders anticipate next week’s planned US-led talks with delegations from Ukraine and Russia.

Futures fell as much as 2.4% to the lowest intraday price since June 30, before paring losses.

“Scheduled Black Sea talks in Abu Dhabi mid-next week are pressuring prices and that is likely to continue for the next few sessions,” the Hightower Report said in a note.

The conflict has damaged ports amid escalating strikes in the Black Sea region, and disrupted exports of wheat from Russia and Ukraine, two of the world’s biggest suppliers of the grain. Recent talks with US envoys have raised hopes about making progress toward ending the war, which is now in its fifth year, but some remain skeptical about the prospect of peace between the two countries.

AgResource, in a Friday note, said it “fears that ending the Russian/Ukraine war will be complex and more difficult than what President Trump indicates.”

Elsewhere, the US Department of Agriculture on Friday reported export sales of 136,000 tons of soybeans to China, which appears to be closing in on this year’s target to purchase 25 million tons from the US. The Asian nation has agreed to secure that amount annually through 2028, and has made a steady stream of purchases toward the goal since early July.

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