Wheat futures decline on concern US production may boost global surplus

Wheat futures fell in Chicago, ending two days of gains, on speculation higher yields in the US will add to the global surplus.

July-delivery futures lost as much as 0.5% to US$5.095 a bushel in after-hours trading on the Chicago Board of Trade, and traded at $5.105 a bushel at 10:23 a.m. Singapore time.

Oklahoma's wheat harvest may increase 83% to 141 million bushels later this month, from 77 million bushels a year earlier, according to Mike Schulte, president of the Oklahoma Wheat Commission, which conducted a tour of the state's fields the past week. Oklahoma was the second-largest US grower of winter-wheat last year, according to the nation's Department of Agriculture.

''If you look at the fundamentals, the growing condition in the US is ok,'' Eric Bailon, president at Paritas Trading Corp. said. Favourable weather may help improve wheat, corn and soy yields in the US, he said.

Yields from hard-red winter wheat fields in southern Kansas may average 44.4 bushels an acre based on random samples of 18 fields collected on the second day of the annual Wheat Quality Council crop tour. That compares with 39.8 bushels an acre in the same period last year, according to council data.

Kansas, the biggest US grower of winter-wheat, accounted for 26% of total harvested areas in the nation last year, according to the USDA.