CANBERRA- Chicago wheat futures slid towards their lowest levels since 2020 on Thursday, as cheap Russian supply continued to exert pressure on prices and undermine the competitiveness of US crops.
Soybean and corn futures also edged down on ample supply from the Americas.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was down 0.9 percent at $5.39-1/2 a bushel and nearing Monday’s low of $5.23-1/2, its lowest since August 2020.
Black Sea grain is flooding the market and large crops are expected later this year in Russia, Ukraine and the United States, said Dennis Voznesenski, a Commonwealth Bank analyst in Sydney.
However, dry weather in Canada, concern that a La Nina weather system could harm crops in Argentina and the risk of trade disruption should limit price falls, he added.
Benchmark Russian wheat export prices slipped below $200 a metric ton ($5.44 a bushel) this week for the first time since August 2020, Refinitiv data show.
Around 500,000 metric tons of US wheat export sales to China have been cancelled in the past week, according to the US government, likely due to the recent slide in prices.
Chinese wheat importers have also cancelled or postponed imports of about 1 million metric tons of Australian wheat originally scheduled for shipment in February, March and April sources said.
