CBOT wheat falls as Russia issues grain vessel permits; soybeans, soyoil follow

By P.J. Huffstutter

CHICAGO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures fell on Wednesday, posting a ninth decline in 10 sessions, after Russian authorities issued permits for grain-export vessels to leave the Sea of Azov for the first time since July 10.

Corn futures firmed on bargain buying, analysts said. But soybean futures followed wheat lower on selling by funds and technical trading, as well as concern that a potential revival of steady maritime traffic could erode export demand for US animal feeds and edible oils, market analysts said.

Soyoil prices slumped sharply, with the most-active contract at one point touching prices not seen since early July.

"There's also some signs of (investors) rolling out of commodities and rolling into equities today," said Mike Castle, a senior commodities analyst at StoneX.

Russia closed maritime traffic in the area due to Ukrainian drone attacks. The permits to pass through the Kerch Strait, which links the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, would be issued for a period through November 15, sources told Reuters. Two of the sources said the vessels would be accompanied through the Black Sea by a Russian naval convoy.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade settled down 11-1/4 cents at $5.99 a bushel, after earlier touching $5.93-1/4 a bushel, the lowest since July 1.

CBOT soybeans ended down for a third session, closing down 5 cents at $12.38 a bushel. And corn added 3 cents, settling at $4.51-3/4 a bushel.

Ample US harvest supplies continued to weigh on CBOT soybean prices, with back-end months spending much of the day trading either side of unchanged.

Still, basis values for soybeans in some US cash markets have remained surprisingly firm for this time of year, an indication of strong domestic demand, Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag, said in an analyst note. But, he added, "South America is now offering soybeans at a sizable discount to the US given their currency collapse, and this will likely draw some business away from the US."