U.S. wheat futures fell sharply on Wednesday following a report about efforts by the United Nations to restore Ukraine grain shipments and as forecasts of ample Russian supplies added to the impact on sentiment of expectations high prices will curb demand, traders said.
Benchmark Chicago Board of Trade July soft red winter wheat settled down 46-3/4 cents at $12.30-3/4 a bushel. * K.C. July hard red winter wheat was down 43-1/4 cents to $13.24-1/2 a bushel, while MGEX July spring wheat was down 43-1/2 cents at $13.50 a bushel.
The head of Russian agriculture consultancy IKAR told a conference in Geneva that Russia’s 2022/23 wheat crop may reach 85 million tonnes, and pegged its export potential at 39 million tonnes.
* Crop scouts on the first day of an annual three-day wheat tour of Kansas projected an average yield for hard red winter wheat in the northern portion of the drought-hit state at 39.5 bushels per acre, down from 59.2 bushels in 2021.
* U.N. chief Antonio Guterres is expected to publicly disclose on Wednesday that he is in talks with the European Union, Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United States to try to restore Ukraine grain shipments and revive fertilizer exports from Belarus and Russia, U.N. officials said.
* Guterres has said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has led to tighter global grains supply and fueled a surge in prices, will worsen food, energy and economic crises in poor countries.
(Reporting by P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Will Dunham)
