CBOT wheat hit 12-week peak on Black Sea tensions
Updates at 1730 GMT, changes dateline to CHICAGO
By Tom Polansek
CHICAGO, Sept 13 (Reuters) -Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures reached a 12-week high on Friday as escalating tensions in Russia's war with Ukraine increased uncertainty about Black Sea exports.
Traders focused on the Black Sea after Ukraine, a major wheat and corn supplier, accused Russia on Thursday of using strategic bombers to strike a civilian grain vessel in waters near NATO member Romania. Russia, the world's biggest wheat exporter, declined to comment.
Wheat markets have also been grappling with weather risks to Black Sea supply, with drought hampering winter wheat sowing in Russia and Ukraine. A slide in the dollar helped support prices, traders said, at it makes U.S. crops look more attractive to importers.
"When we have reactions to world events, sometimes it is fairly fleeting," said Matt Wiegand, commodity broker for FuturesOne.
"But there's enough structural stuff with dryness coming into fall, and questions about overall production, along with the cheaper dollar, to keep a better overall base of support under wheat for right now."
The most active CBOT wheat contract Wv1 was up 12 cents at $5.90-1/2 a bushel by 12:30 p.m. CDT (1730 GMT) and reached its highest price since mid-June at $5.98-3/4 on a continuation chart.
The gains helped underpin the neighboring corn market, which also benefited from U.S. export sales and demand from domestic ethanol producers, Weigand said.
"It's certainly supportive until we really get harvest rolling to put a lot of bushels on top of it," he said.
CBOT corn Cv1 rose 6 cents to $4.12 a bushel, while soybeans Sv1 slipped 6-3/4 cents to $10.04 a bushel.
The approaching U.S. corn and soy harvests weighed on futures prices, traders said. USDA is slated to issue updates on harvesting in a weekly progress report on Monday.
USDA on Thursday raised its forecast for U.S. corn production and yields, surprising traders who had expected a downward revision after dry weather.
Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago. Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Mei Mei Chu in Beijing; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, David Goodman and Cynthia Osterman
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