US wheat futures ended lower Thursday, setting back from recent rallies in profit-taking. Chicago Board of Trade July wheat ended down 4-1/4 cents at $5.93-1/2 per bushel, while at the Kansas City Board of Trade July wheat ended down 3 cents at $6.47. And Minneapolis Grain Exchange July spring wheat was last down 1/2 cent at $7.25.
Traders said the market was due for at least a light setback after following soyabeans higher this week. Big global stocks of wheat remained a pressure point. Declines in financial stocks, and a downturn in crude oil values Thursday were pressure points for soya and grains, as was a firmer dollar. Underpinning was tied in part to weekly export sales of US wheat totalled 20,200 tonnes in the latest reporting week, with 543,300 for the new marketing year. Trade estimates were for 300,000 to 400,000 tonnes.
There was chatter, but no confirmation, that Iraq had bought 150,000 tonnes of Canadian wheat and 100,000 tonnes of Australian wheat. Russia's senior agriculture official said on Thursday the seizure of Russian wheat in Egypt was a "misunderstanding" on Egypt's part and he hoped the situation would soon be resolved. Japan bought 107,000 tonnes of wheat from the United States, Canada and Australia.
Imports of soft and durum wheat into Italy, a major grain buyer in Europe, fell in the first two months of 2009 from a year-ago period. UkrAgroConsult agriculture consultancy on Thursday raised Ukraine's 2008/09 grain export forecast to 23.40 million tonnes from 23.38 million but cut the outlook for 2009/10 to 18.11 million from 19.35 million.
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