Grain futures rise in overnight trade

Wheat futures were higher in overnight trade as prices fell to their lowest level in a month yesterday as speculators bid lower, or lower, on the market, contracts and booked profits. Information from agriculture.com.

Prices in Chicago fell as rain is expected in some drought-stricken parts of the US and South America. Instead, investors may focus on concerns that rising tensions between Ukraine and Russia could affect exports and what could mine the corridor where ships leave Ukrainian ports.

Ukrainian authorities have accused Russia of deliberately delaying more than 165 ships en route to ports along the Black Sea to transport grain from the war-torn region. Kiev has accused Moscow of unnecessarily extending inspection times for ships. The ships must be inspected under the so-called Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allows ships carrying agricultural goods to leave Ukrainian ports under a United Nations-brokered agreement with Turkey.

The Joint Coordination Center, or JCC, which breached the contract, acknowledged the delays but did not list the reason. While officials at the United Nations and Turkey continue to work on extending the deal, Russian politicians continue to insist that such an extension is not a foregone conclusion.

The JCC is also investigating an object found in a transit corridor in the port city of Odessa that some worry is a mine. Ukraine has received permission to send a tugboat and a search-and-rescue vessel to investigate the site.