PHOTO
LONDON - Chicago wheat futures climbed more than 4% on Monday boosted by continued disruption to the flow of supplies from Ukraine while weekend storms threatened to curb production in France.
Dealers noted Russian warships continued to control access to Ukraine's Black Sea ports with Russian President Vladimir Putin proposing that grain could be shipped via Belarus but only if sanctions against Russia's ally were lifted.
"Russia is trying to put more pressure on the world to lift sanctions by sabotaging world food supply," said Ole Houe, director of advisory services at agriculture brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney. "And well knowing that they sit on a big pile of food for exports this year."
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 4% at $10.81-1/4 a bushel, as of 1115 GMT.
Ukraine was the world's fourth-largest corn exporter and the No. 6 wheat exporter before Russia's invasion, according to International Grains Council data.
Concerns about supplies from the Black Sea region were also heightened by news that Russia had attacked Ukraine's capital Kyiv for the first time in more than a month.
Storms in the EU's top producer France added to the bullish mood.
Farms across France were hit by heavy hail and fierce storms over the weekend, the National Farmers' Union Federation (FNSEA) said on Monday, following drought in May and as the wheat market already grapples with high volatility.
September milling wheat on Paris-based Euronext rose 3.8% to 392.50 euros a tonne.
Corn prices also rose with the most active Chicago contract up 1.2% at $7.35-1/2 a bushel.
Large speculators cut their net long positions in CBOT corn futures in the week ended May 31, regulatory data released on Friday showed.
Chicago soybeans rose 0.8% to $17.11-1/2 a bushel.
(Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Subhranshu Sahu and Tomasz Janowski)