CHICAGO: Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell about 2 percent on Wednesday after investors took profits following two sessions of steep gains and forecasts for light rains in the southern US Plains growing region, traders said.
The wheat market remained underpinned by drought conditions in the Plains, with futures earlier in the session hitting a three-week high before turning lower.
"They (the Plains) might see a little bit of rain tomorrow, and then a better chance this weekend. But I think most areas will probably see 0.5 inch at most. It's not going to be enough dramatically improve the situation. Our 6-10 and 11-15 looks fairly dry across those areas. So a minor improvement, but not much," said Kyle Tapley, meteorologist with MDA Weather Services.
KC May hard red winter wheat ended down 1.4 percent at $7.54-1/2 per bushel while May spring wheat futures lost 12-1/2 cents to $7.26.
Germany will harvest 23.95 million tonnes of wheat in 2014, down from the 24.87 million tonnes harvested in 2013, Germany's leading grain trader Toepfer International said.
Ukraine's 2013/14 grain exports reached 28.6 million tonnes as of April 16, the agriculture ministry said. Ukraine, which harvested a record 63 million tonnes of grain in 2013, has said it plans to export around 33 million tonnes in the 2013/14 season which runs from July to June.
Ukraine's farmers have sown 2.58 million hectares of early spring grain as of April 16, 92 percent of the expected sowing area, the agriculture ministry said.
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