Chicago wheat and corn fall on hopes for Black sea de-escalation

By Renee Hickman

CHICAGO, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat and corn fell on Thursday on the prospect of diplomatic talks bringing de-escalation in Russia's war with Ukraine and its damage to shipping.

Meanwhile, soybeans climbed as the markets reacted to export sales numbers as harvest pressure receded.

The most-traded soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 9 cents at $12.54-1/4 a bushel as of 12:51 p.m. CST (1751 GMT).

CBOT corn lost 1-3/4 cents to $4.61-1/2 a bushel, while CBOT wheat inched down 2 cents to $6.26-1/4 a bushel.

Meetings held by US envoy Steve Witkoff with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and then Russian President Vladimir Putin this raised expectations of possible de-escalation in the countries' war, which has disrupted Black Sea grain trade in recent months.

However, attacks continued on Thursday, with Russia pounding Kyiv with ballistic missiles and Ukraine sending hundreds of drones towards Moscow overnight.

"There's quite a bit of cheap wheat supply that's backed up there," said Randy Place, analyst at the Hightower Report. "If you do get a ceasefire deal, then there could be a flood of cheap exports coming into the Black Sea."

Meanwhile, rains in the US southwest Plains were expected to aid the hard red winter wheat crop in western Kansas, Texas and Oklahoma, pushing Kansas City wheat futures lower, said Place.

Drier weather in the Midwest corn belt this week accelerated harvesting of what the government projects to be bumper corn and soybean crops, but Place said much of the pressure from that harvest is beginning to fade as it gets closer to completion.

Meanwhile, export sales released by the US Department of Agriculture were at the upper end of the trade estimate.

The agency reported weekly soybean export sales in the current marketing year at 2,841,200 metric tons.

The soybean market is finally starting to realize that "this China buying is consistent and strong," said Place.