April 19, 2008

  

US Wheat Review on Friday: Slides on lack of fresh bullish news

  

 

U.S. wheat futures slumped Friday on a lack of bullish news and amid bearish expectations for an increase in supplies, analysts said.

 

Chicago Board of Trade May wheat shed 43 cents to US$8.79 per bushel, down 17 1/2 cents on the week. Kansas City Board of Trade May wheat slipped 34 cents to US$9.39 3/4, down 14 cents on the week. Minneapolis Grain Exchange May wheat was down 9 cents at US$12.30, down 62 cents on the week.

 

The losses were a continuation of a downtrend for wheat ahead of the new-crop winter wheat harvest, said John Kleist, analyst for Allendale. Lingering concerns about tight old-crop stocks "basically only put some speed bumps on the decline," he said.

 

"As the world moves forward, the increased availability of supplies is becoming more certain," Kleist said. "Those speed bumps are getting a little less and less for the time being."

 

There was little fresh bullish news out for the markets amid a lack of fresh demand news, traders said. Weekly U.S. wheat export sales, announced Thursday, were below trade estimates.

 

"Importers are getting a sense of prices coming down," Kleist said. "They're being a little bit more particular about how much they pay and where they pay it."

 

Commodity funds sold an estimated 2,000 contracts at the CBOT.

 

 

Kansas City Board of Trade

  

KCBT wheat futures sank as supportive fears about the potential for a freeze in the U.S. Plains evaporated, traders said. Concerns about the potential for a damaging cold snap had supported the market mid-week.

 

"For right now, the threat of damage seems lessened," Kleist said.

 

Winter wheat areas of the Southern Plains didn't suffer significant cold-weather stress Thursday night, DTN Meteorlogix said. Recent rainfall has favored spring growth of wheat, but more rain is still needed, especially through the west Texas region and in the far west areas, the private weather firm said.

 

 

Minneapolis Grain Exchange

  

Market participants are waiting for Statistics Canada to release its first estimates on wheat plantings Monday, a MGE floor trader said. All-wheat seedings are seen at 22.8 million to 27.5 million acres, up from 21.617 million last year, according to analysts.

 

Heavy snowfall in Canada this weekend will delay field work for spring wheat but may deliver longer-term benefits by boosting soil moisture in dry areas, meteorologists said. Central Montana and parts of North Dakota could also see some snow, although the moisture in North Dakota will probably come as rain, they said.