US Wheat Review on Wednesday: Prices close at lowest levels since october

 

 

U.S. wheat futures weakened Wednesday with other commodities amid a lack of supportive fundamental factors.

 

Chicago Board of Trade March wheat ended down 10 1/4 cents, or 2%, at US$4.83 3/4 a bushel. That was the contract's lowest close since Oct. 7.

 

Kansas City Board of Trade March wheat lost 9 cents, or 1.8%, to US$4.90 1/2. Minneapolis Grain Exchange March wheat fell 5 1/2 cents, or 1.1%, to US$5.04 3/4.

 

Sharp losses in CBOT soy helped lead the grains lower, traders said. Wheat sagged with corn, soy, crude oil and precious metals. It seemed as though commodities in general were on the defensive, a broker said.

 

"I'm staring at a lot of red," he said.

 

Abundant supplies continue to hang over the wheat markets, traders said. U.S. ending stocks are at a 22-year high, and traders are waiting for a pick-up in export demand.

 

Egypt secured 180,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia in a tender and none from the U.S. The snub was somewhat disappointing, an analyst said, because there had been "a little bit of hope that demand was improving."

 

Commodity funds sold an estimated 3,000 contracts at CBOT.

 

 

Kansas City Board of Trade

 

KCBT March wheat finished at its lowest price since Oct. 5.

 

Large supplies and an absence of supportive demand news weighed on prices, a trader said. Heavy snow in the U.S. Southern Plains should give dormant hard red winter wheat a beneficial "soil moisture boost," according to private weather firm T-Storm Weather.

 

 

Minneapolis Grain Exchange

 

MGE March wheat settled at its lowest price since Oct. 5. The contract finished near the session low of US$5.04, which was its lowest intraday price since Jan. 20.

 

Traders Thursday will watch for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue weekly U.S. export sales data. Wheat export sales for the week ended Jan. 21 are expected to total 300,000 to 800,000 tonnes.

 

Export sales for delivery in 2009-10 for the previous week were a marketing-year high of 825,800 tonnes following a drop in prices. The markets could see another week of solid sales because prices have dropped even more since then, a trader said. However, there remains stiff competition for business from other exporters, he said.