U.S. grains: Chicago wheat falls on dollar strength as Trump-Zelenskiy call results awaited

Chicago | Reuters—Chicago wheat futures fell on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened and investors assessed the outcome of a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to analysts.

Meanwhile, corn firmed with a new import quota in Turkey, and soybeans fell as the harvest wrapped up in soybean-producing regions of South America.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 settled down 1-1/2 cents at $5.63-1/2 a bushel.

The dollar rebounded from multi-month lows as traders eyed the Federal Reserve’s meeting later on Wednesday for clues to the path of U.S. interest rates.

A strong dollar makes U.S. exports less competitive to holders of other currencies.

Traders also monitored the results of a call between the leaders of the U.S. and Ukraine regarding Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. An end to hostilities would be bearish news for wheat futures as it would create more security for Black Sea exports.

Randy Place, analyst with the Hightower Report, said snow forecast in parts of the U.S. wheat belt could add necessary precipitation to the drought-struck region, pressuring K.C. wheat futures in particular.

In soybeans, the harvest is wrapping up in Brazil’s Mato Grosso state, with 97 per cent of the crop harvested as light rains fall, ahead of the five-year average of 93 per cent, according to Maxar.

Turkey’s government has announced a 1 million metric ton import quota for animal feed corn, the trade ministry said in the Turkish official gazette on Wednesday. The potential upside for corn prices, however, continued to be limited by expectations of increased U.S. planting this year.

Corn Cv1 settled up 3-1/4 cents at $4.62 a bushel. Soybeans Sv1 settled down 4-1/2 cents at $10.08-1/4 per bushel.

S&P Global Commodity Insights projected on Tuesday that U.S. farmers would plant 94.3 million acres of corn in 2025, up 800,000 acres from its previous forecast released on Jan. 21.

Place said such projections were not unexpected but “highlight that the bean-corn relationship favors corn.”

—1 acre = 0.405 hectares

—Additional reporting by Nigel Hunt in London and Naveen Thukral in Singapore