Chart of the day: WHEAT (16.08.2023)

WHEAT quotations are gaining during today's session due to an attack by the Russian side on one of the Danube River ports. The head of the military administration of the Odessa region, Oleh Kiper, notified that warehouses and silos were significantly "affected," which is another escalation of the war in the Black Sea zone and another boost to volatility on wheat quotes. At this point, the exact scale of the damage is unknown. 

Wheat is still trading with a YTD loss of more than 20% due to abundant harvests in some parts of the northern hemisphere. The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday raised its estimate of Russian supplies for the 2023-24 season (domestic cargo estimates were raised to 48 million metric tons for the 2023-24 season. To put this in perspective, this means that nearly a quarter of the world's wheat trade will now come from Russia) and increased its forecast for U.S. wheat stocks by more than analysts had expected.

WHEAT quotations are starting today's session with an upward gap, nevertheless it is worth noting that this is mainly the result of a futures contract rollover. On the spot market, the grain's quotations are gaining 1.16% today. Source: xStation 5