(Updates for market close)
CHICAGO, Aug 31 (Reuters) – Chicago wheat futures fell on Monday after hitting three-year highs in the previous session, as wheat was weighed down by selling pressure triggered by news that Turkey said it prepared a plan for the safe passage of grain via the Black Sea and is in contact with both Russia and Ukraine regarding it.
Wheat futures hit multi-year highs last week on news that Russia could step up missile strikes on Ukraine, reducing prospects for a resumption of Russia’s and Ukraine’s grain shipments.
“When you have a pretty good run-up, it only takes perception to move the market,” said Jim Gerlach, president of A/C Trading.
Turkey has repeatedly expressed willingness to revive a U.N.-brokered deal that got grain out of Ukraine during wartime.
“We have prepared a plan and we are in contact with both sides regarding this plan,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a press conference in Istanbul. “If the necessary conditions emerge, we are working in particular to achieve another agreement similar to the grain deal.”
Chicago Board of Trade most active wheat settled 10 cents lower at $7.74 per bushel.
Corn and soybeans also slipped from life-of-contract highs hit earlier on Monday on profit-taking and spillover weakness from falling wheat futures, though both were supported by bullish fundamentals.
Corn settled 1-1/4 cents higher at $5.37-3/4 per bushel after earlier hitting a new life-of-contract high of $5.42, its highest since summer 2023. Soybeans settled unchanged at $12.88 per bushel after also earlier touching a high of $12.94-1/2 per bushel.
Continued export demand for U.S. soybeans and rising crude oil prices helped soybean futures hit contract highs.
Oil prices gained more than 2% on Monday after a resumption of military action between the U.S. and Iran rekindled market concerns about global supply disruption, as the conflict extended into its sixth month. Soybean futures often follow movements in crude oil as the oilseed is commonly used as a feedstock for biofuel.
For corn, expectations for a poor yield from the U.S. corn belt have continued to propel prices higher.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to issue an update on U.S. crop conditions in a weekly report after trading ends.
(Reporting by Heather Schlitz in Chicago; Additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Daphne Zhang and Lewis Jackson in Beijing; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Rashmi Aich, Diti Pujara and Aurora Ellis)
