SINGAPORE – Chicago Wheat shares fell further on Tuesday on concerns about additional supplies following a better-than-expected harvest forecast driven by export license moves from Russia and India.
Soybeans fell for a second session, with the market falling from multi-month highs last week, weighed down by weak demand from China, the world’s biggest buyer, during the week-long holiday.
Wheat, the most active commodity on the Chicago Board of Trade, was down 1.4% at $5.41 a bushel as of 0312 GMT, while corn was down 0.6% at $4.29 a bushel.
Soybeans fell 0.6% to $11.26-1/2 a bushel after hitting their highest price since early December last week.
Prices were weighed down by the prospect of a large global wheat harvest in 2026. Consultancy IKAR has raised its forecast for the 2026 wheat harvest in Russia, the world’s biggest exporter, to 91 million tonnes from 88 million tonnes previously.
On Friday, India allowed the export of 2.5 million tonnes of wheat.
Demand for soybeans slowed this week due to China’s Lunar New Year holiday and curbs on purchasing activity across Asia. Soybean prices rose after U.S. President Donald Trump said earlier this month that China was considering increasing its purchases of U.S. soybeans, and after a report in the South China Morning Post suggested that Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could extend a trade ceasefire between the two countries for up to a year. Concerns about China’s grain quality limited the decline in corn futures. Chinese buyers have ramped up their feed grain purchases in recent months, snapping up large quantities of Australian and US barley. Trade sources said sorghum after the rains had damaged the country’s maize crop. Major speculators reduced their long positions in Chicago Board of Trade corn futures during the week ending Feb. 10, according to regulatory data released Friday.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s traders’ weekly commitment report also revealed that non-commercial traders, including hedge funds, increased their net short positions in CBOT wheat and turned them into net long positions in soybeans.
