CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed higher on Thursday after the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a monthly report cut its forecast of wheat production from several major exporting countries, traders said.
CBOT September soft red winter wheat settled up 16-3/4 cents at $5.21-1/2 per bushel after reaching $5.23, its highest since July 1.
K.C. September hard red winter wheat ended up 20 cents at $4.61-1/2 a bushel and MGEX September spring wheat rose 12-1/2 cents to $5.41-1/4.
The USDA in its July supply/demand report lowered its forecast of 2019/20 wheat production in Russia, the European Union, Australia and Canada.
As a result, the USDA lowered its forecast of 2019/20 wheat ending stocks to 286.46 million tonnes, down from 294.34 million in June and near the low end of a range of analyst expectations.
"USDA basically slashed the global wheat production," said Terry Reilly, senior analyst with Futures International, adding, "The trade was caught off-guard because they were so focused on corn and soybeans."
The USDA raised its forecast of US 2019/20 wheat production to 1.921 billion bushels, up from 1.903 billion in June and above an average of trade estimates.
Traders shook off disappointing weekly export sales data.
The USDA reported export sales of US wheat in the week ended July 4 at 284,400 tonnes, toward the low end of trade expectations.
Russia's agriculture ministry left its estimate of the 2019-20 wheat crop at 75 million tonnes, the Interfax news agency said.
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