Wheat prices fall on expectations of higher supplies from the Black Sea region as Türkiye, Russia, Ukraine and UN signed a deal to open ports for grain shipments.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attended the signature ceremony in Türkiye's city of Istanbul on Friday along with the representatives from Russia and Ukraine.
"We are proud of being instrumental in an initiative that will play a major role in the solution of the global food crisis that has occupied the whole world for a long time," Erdogan said.
The president added: "We will contribute to preventing the danger of hunger that awaits billions of people in the world."
Wheat prices fall
Chicago wheat fell more than three percent on Friday.
Corn and soybeans extended their fall in the previous session to hit a 8-month and 7-month lows respectively as forecasts of favourable US weather eased global supply worries.
Ukraine and Russia are both among the world's biggest exporters of food.
"A serious deal would be a game-changer and potentially could bring millions of tonnes of Ukrainian grains into the market in coming weeks and months," one German trader said.
US wheat exports have been gaining since the Russia-Ukraine conflict curbed shipments earlier this year.
US wheat exporters last year notched up their second-worst performance in a half-century with global market share at an all-time low, as competing wheat offerings were plentiful and cheaper, Karen Braun, a market analyst for Reuters, wrote in a column.
Egypt's state grains buyer is believed to have bought an additional 120,000 tonnes of Russian and French wheat on Thursday, traders said, after booking 640,000 tonnes a day earlier.
Buyers from China purchased large volumes of Australian and French wheat this week in a sign that the Asian country is taking advantage of a recent dip in prices to fill its large needs, European traders said on Friday.
Corn and soybean prices have been pressured by crop weather in the US Midwest where corn is pollinating, its key reproductive phase, later than usual.
Forecasts called for beneficial rains and moderating Midwest temperatures next week.
Source: Reuters
