CANBERRA: Chicago wheat futures rose on Wednesday after France’s farm ministry downgraded the country’s crop again, though sizeable exports of cheap Black Sea wheat continued to stifle a rally that drove prices to three-month highs last week.

Soybean futures climbed as traders monitored heat and dryness in top producer Brazil that threaten soybean seeding, and corn also gained. The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.4% at $5.78 a bushel, as of 0715 GMT, but well below Friday’s high of $5.99.

“The market is processing the European quality problems, and dryness in the Black Sea region has started to weigh,” said Vitor Pistoia at Rabobank in Sydney. “Supply next year might not be that large. And we have low stocks,” he said, but added that prices wouldn’t necessarily rise. “We need more supply problems to go higher.” France’s farm ministry on Tuesday lowered its 2024 wheat harvest estimate again, and Ukraine’s agriculture ministry said planting of winter wheat was slow in parched fields.

However, exports from top exporter Russia are expected to remain strong in September, consultancy Sovecon said, raising its estimate for Russia’s 2024 wheat crop to 82.9 million metric tons. In other crops, CBOT corn rose 0.4% to $4.14-1/4 a bushel and soybeans climbed 1.3% to $10.19 a bushel.

Rapidly advancing US soy and corn harvests are putting pressure on prices, but drought in Brazil threatens to puncture the government’s predictions of higher production in the upcoming season. Plentiful supply pushed CBOT wheat, corn and soybeans to four-year lows in recent weeks. Speculators have since cut their bets on lower prices but remain bearish.—Reuters