US Wheat Review on Thursday: Mostly down on weak exports, outside markets

 

 

Poor export demand and weak outside markets pushed U.S. wheat futures mostly lower Thursday.

 

Chicago Board of Trade March wheat fell 5 1/2 cents to US$5.68 3/4 a bushel. Kansas City Board of Trade March wheat lost 5 1/2 cents to US$5.94 1/2, and Minneapolis Grain Exchange March wheat finished unchanged at US$6.41 3/4.

 

Total weekly U.S. wheat export sales of 167,900 tonnes were below trade expectations. Export sales of soft red winter wheat, traded at the CBOT, were negative following cancellations of purchases, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

 

The markets have been hit with "two weeks in a row now of poor export sales," said Larry Glenn, broker and analyst for Frontier Ag. Weekly export sales last week were a marketing year low of 41,900 tonnes.

 

"The export sales were another reminder" of sluggish demand, another analyst said. "We'll continue to get reminders of the slow pace."

 

Egypt's state-owned wheat buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities, or GASC, said Thursday it bought 55,000 tonnes of U.S. soft red wheat in a tender. Egypt also booked 28,000 tonnes of Russian wheat in the tender.

 

Despite the sale, U.S. wheat overall remains too expensive on the world export market, with competition seen from the Black Sea region and France, analysts said. Thursday's sale to Egypt was small and "heavily discounted," an analyst said.

 

In other export news, state-run Trading Corp. of Pakistan invited bids to import around 150,000 metric tonnes of wheat to stabilize local prices and meet a local shortfall, an official said.

 

CBOT March wheat faces overhead resistance near the 20-day moving average of US$5.91 3/4, a trader said. Commodity funds sold an estimated 2,000 contracts.

 

 

Kansas City Board Of Trade

 

Weekly export sales were weak for wheat and corn, but strong for soybeans, a KCBT floor trader said. Corn ended slightly lower, while soybeans finished firmer.

 

Weakness in crude oil and the Dow Jones Industrial Average's temporary dip below 8000 were "kind of leading to the negative sentiment, as well," the trader said. Traders have been "watching the headlines" about the struggling economy, she said.

 

"The futures are choppy at best," the trader said. "Ten cents on either side of unchanged has pretty much been the pattern. Spreads are quiet. [Traders are] kind of keeping an eye on crude oil."

 

 

Minneapolis Grain Exchange

 

MGE wheat resisted the losses seen at the CBOT and KCBT, with the nearby March contract ending unchanged and deferred contracts rising slightly. MGE wheat has ended higher for the past three sessions as the market continues to bounce after a sharp sell-off Monday.

 

Japan bought 157,000 metric tonnes of wheat, including 90,000 tonnes from the U.S., in a tender. The business was routine and didn't help support the market, traders said.