US wheat futures rallied on Wednesday, bucking declines in other grains, as traders covered short positions amid news of a US wheat sale to Egypt, traders said. Egypt bought a total of 292,500 tonnes of Canadian, US, Ukrainian wheat at a snap tender; the US share was 120,000 tonnes of soft red winter wheat.
Traders said the deal showed US wheat was competitive on the world market. Chicago Board of Trade wheat was seen as due for a bounce after the spot September contract on Tuesday fell to the lowest spot price in three months. The contract has fallen roughly 20 percent in two weeks.
Inter-market spreading noted at the CBOT, with firms buying wheat to exit long corn/short wheat spreads. Light support stemmed from talk that Australia's wheat crop may be closer to 20 million tonnes, below USDA's current forecast for 25 million.
Yet welcome rains reached Australian wheat areas in recent days, a bearish market factor. At the CBOT, September soft red winter wheat rose 8 cents, or 1 percent, to settle at $7.52-1/4 per bushel, with December up 8 at $7.74-3/4. Trend-following funds were net buyers of 3,000 CBOT wheat contracts, traders said.
At the Kansas City Board of Trade, September hard red winter wheat ended up 6-1/4 cents at $7.99 per bushel, with December up 7-3/4 at $8.19. At the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, September spring wheat settled up 11 cents at $8.35 a bushel, with December up 4-1/4 at $8.44-1/2.
CBOT wheat volume was moderate at an estimated 72,920 futures and 17,202 options. KCBT wheat volume estimated at 14,481 futures; MGE estimated at 6,361 futures. USDA said the US spring wheat harvest was 81 percent complete by Sunday, up from 61 percent a week earlier and close to the five-year average of 83 percent.
Deliveries on CBOT September heavy at 2,206 lots; Man Professional customer accounts issued 857 lots, stopped 694. KCBT deliveries heavy at 1,233 lots; MGE deliveries totalled one lot.
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