Futures wheat prices as well as soybeans in Chicago rose sharply on Thursday. Wheat quotations recovered from 6-month lows on signs of demand revival following a recent drop in prices and on expectations of hot weather in the U.S. Corn prices also rose after declining earlier this week.

Wheat prices chart — current situation

The most heavily traded wheat futures on CBOT closed 2.4 percent higher, to $7.81 3/4 per bushel. On Wednesday, quotations fell to a low since early February of $7.52 per bushel. CBOT soybean futures closed 3.6 percent higher at $14.19 a bushel.

Meteorologists forecast that hot, dry weather is expected to intensify in the Midwest, U.S. soybean-growing region in August. This is a critical month for crop maturity, and such weather conditions could lead to lower yields.

Meanwhile, the market continues to closely watch the situation in Ukraine. Despite the existing obstacles, the first shipment of export grain could leave Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea for the first time since February. A Turkish dry cargo ship is expected to arrive at the Ukrainian port of Chernomorsk on Friday. This will be the first vessel that will be able to enter a Ukrainian port since the start of the Russian special operation, a representative of the local administration of Odessa said.

Maxar forecasts drier weather in the central and northeastern parts of the Midwest over the next 6 to 10 days. However, rains in the Mississippi Delta and southeastern Midwest should increase moisture content in the soil needed for corn and soybeans to mature.

According to U.S. Department of Agriculture weekly data, net wheat and soybean export sales for the week of July 22-28 for the new marketing year were 249,900 tons and soybean export sales were 410,600 tons, in line with projections.