Chicago wheat futures rose on Wednesday after a Russian consultancy reduced its production estimate for the world’s top exporter of the grain, but prices remain near five-year lows amid ample supply and sluggish demand.

Corn futures climbed as the contract continued to enjoy a bounce from low levels fuelled by bargain hunters and short-covering.

Soybeans also gained, but a lack of Chinese demand for U.S. beans and expectations for a large U.S. harvest kept a lid on prices.

The most active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade
ZW1!
was up 0.3% at $5.39-3/4 a bushel by 0509 GMT but not far from May’s five-year low of $5.06-1/4.

Russia’s IKAR consultancy cut its 2025 wheat production forecast to 84.0 million metric tons from 84.5 million tons and its wheat export forecast to 42 million tons in the new marketing season from 42.5 million tons.

“The revision is mostly associated with lower yields in the south of Russia,” IKAR said in a note.

Wheat prices are under seasonal pressure from ongoing Northern Hemisphere harvests.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Monday that the U.S. winter wheat harvest was 63% complete as of Sunday and 54% of the spring wheat crop was in good to excellent condition, above trade estimates.

“Wheat and corn have fallen a bit too far,” said Ole Houe at IKON Commodities in Sydney. “U.S. prices have fallen to a level that is hypothetically below the cost of production, if you don’t count the subsidies they get.”

CBOT corn was up 0.6% at $4.22-1/4 a bushel, having climbed from a contract low of $4.07-1/2 on Monday.

Soybeans were up 0.9% at $10.10-1/4 a bushel after touching $9.98-1/4 on Monday, their lowest point since April 9.

The U.S. soybean crush topped an average of trade expectations in June and reached the highest ever level for the sixth month of the year, according to National Oilseed Processors Association data released on Tuesday.
Source: Reuters