Analysts said that the benchmark Chicago corn and Wheat futures gained just over 1% Tuesday. They attributed the gains to concerns about tensions around the Black Sea Export Region as well as the cold weather in the Midwest of the United States. Analysts said that soybean futures fell due to a lack positive news and a decline in soymeal prices.

Chicago Board of Trade March Corn settled at $4.50 a bushel, and March Wheat ended at $5.41 per bushel. CBOT January soyabeans finished at $11.24-3/4 per bushel, down 3-1/4cents.

Traders monitored the risks to Black Sea Shipping from the conflict in Ukraine. The drone attacks by Ukraine last week on two oil tankers heading for a Russian port was followed by an attack Tuesday against a Russian flagged vessel transporting sunflower oil. An official from Ukraine said that Ukraine had not been involved in the attack on Tuesday, but Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to cut off Ukraine's sea access.

The first Russian invasion of Ukraine took place nearly four years back, and commodity prices spiked on the fear that exports from this important region would be restricted. In a client letter, StoneX's chief commodity economist Arlan suderman warned that the threat could reappear. Other market participants noted a firming of the U.S. Cash Markets after wintry weather had slowed grain movements in the Corn Belt. In northern areas, heavy snowfalls followed by frigid temperatures slowed movement. In the country you see basis levels increasing to purchase grain from farmers. "The funds are tight, so you may be seeing some short-covering, as the cash markets firm up," said Don Roose of U.S. Commodities in Iowa. The cold weather has slowed down movement. "Call it a transport premium," Roose continued.

Soybean futures declined as traders assessed Chinese demand for U.S. supplies of soy. U.S. Department of Agriculture announced no new "flash sales" of U.S. soya beans on Tuesday following a series of bookings confirmed the previous week.

Josh Lawrence, an adviser at IKON Commodities Sydney, said: "Soybean Bulls will be looking forward to further U.S. announcements of exports to China in order to break higher from the range-bound trading established in November."

Brazil is expected harvest its

largest-ever

The soybean crop is expected to be harvested in the southern production areas by 2026. However, traders are keeping an eye on dry patches. Reporting by Julie Ingwersen, Chicago; Additional reporting from Ella Cao in Beijing and Lewis Jackson in Paris; Editing and production by Vijay Kishore Matthew Lewis David Gregorio

(source: Reuters)