Updated · Ohio's Country Journal and Ohio Ag Net · Aug 19
Grain Prices Slide as Ceasefire Hopes Fade and Black Sea Risks Hit Exports
Updated
Updated · Ohio's Country Journal and Ohio Ag Net · Aug 19
Grain Prices Slide as Ceasefire Hopes Fade and Black Sea Risks Hit Exports
3 articles · Updated · Ohio's Country Journal and Ohio Ag Net · Aug 19
Summary
July 27 selling hammered grain futures after brief optimism over a US-Iran ceasefire unwound, with December 2026 corn down 13.5 cents to $4.74, July 2027 wheat off 18 cents to $6.985 and November 2026 soybeans down 39.75 cents to $12.1375.
Open interest fell alongside prices—down 29,693 soybean contracts and 14,035 corn contracts—signaling traders were liquidating long positions rather than building confidence in a rebound.
Black Sea disruptions added fresh pressure in late July as grain truck deliveries to three export facilities were restricted and attacks on Russian and Ukrainian infrastructure drove up freight and insurance costs, raising doubts over Russian wheat exports in the next one to three months.
The wider energy backdrop stayed tense: renewed US-Iran hostilities cast doubt on any quick reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, while US crude stocks fell 7.2 million barrels and refinery use rose to 97.2%.