MGE spring wheat ends lower

Spring wheat futures on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange closed sharply lower on Monday, setting back from Friday's multiyear highs on long liquidation, traders said. Related pressure stemmed from inter-market spreading, with some firms taking profits by exiting long Minneapolis/short Chicago wheat spreads.
MGE July spring wheat ended down 13 cents, or 2 percent, at $6.10 per bushel, with most-active September down 19-1/4 cents, or 3 percent, at $6.05 and December down 22 at $6.10. Back months at times fell the daily trading limit of 30 cents a bushel.
Funds were net sellers of about 1,500 contracts, with Man Financial selling 1,000 December, traders said. Volume was estimated by the exchange at 8,380 contracts, up from 6,740 on Friday. Funds have been adding to their net long position in spring wheat, leaving the market open to liquidation. The Catch's weekly Commitments of Traders report late on Friday showed that large speculators widened their net long in MGE wheat combined futures and options to 14,781 contracts as of June 26, up roughly 1,000 lots.
Spring wheat futures declined despite mostly bullish fundamental news. A Canadian Wheat Board official said Canada's wheat output this year would slump by 20 percent, to 20 million tonnes. And a top Ukrainian weather forecaster estimated the country's drought-hit 2007 wheat crop at 12 million tonnes, below the USA's June estimate of 14 million.
On the export docket, the US Department of Agriculture said US exporters sold 105,900 tonnes of wheat to Guatemala for 2007/08 delivery, including 38,900 tonnes of hard red spring wheat.
USDA reported weekly export inspections of US wheat at 22.2 million bushels, above trade estimates for 15 million to 20 million. Iraq finalised several deals to buy 300,000 tonnes of US hard wheat but was still negotiating terms of shipment, trade sources said on Sunday.
The purchases were for two tenders announced in May. And Egypt's main wheat buyer on Saturday bought 305,000 tonnes of wheat, including 175,000 tonnes of US soft red winter wheat. The rest was of Russian or Kazakh origin. Deliveries on the MGE July contract for Monday totalled 103 lots, with the Country Hedging house account issuing all the wheat and an ADM customer stopping all.
After on Monday's close, the USDA said 79 percent of the US spring wheat crop was rated in good to excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week. That was in line with trade expectations for ratings to hold steady or decline slightly.