Hard red wheat falls to multi-year lows

Chicago Board of Trade soft wheat futures rose on Thursday while K.C. hard red winter wheat fell to multi-year lows on poor export demand and much-needed rains falling in key US crop areas, traders said. Corn and soybeans ended nearly unchanged after a choppy session.
At the CBOT, May wheat settled up 3-3/4 cents at $4.94-1/2 per bushel. K.C. May hard red winter wheat ended down 6-1/4 cents at $5.08-1/4 after falling to $5.05-1/2, the lowest spot price since July 2010.
May soybeans rose 1 cent at $9.66 a bushel while May corn ended up 1/4 cent at $3.76-1/4 a bushel.
K.C. wheat futures represent hard red winter wheat, the largest US wheat class, which is grown in the Plains and milled into flour for bread. Portions of the region are in the grip of a multi-year drought.
Showers in central Kansas were forecast to expand in the central Plains through the weekend, bringing 0.5 to 2 inches (1 to 5 cm) of rain to 80 percent of the wheat belt.
"We think 1 inch (of rain) or less would be disappointing, (but) it will buy some time and stabilise crop ratings," said Jason Ward, analyst with Northstar Commodity Investment Co in Minneapolis.
The likely boost in crop prospects comes at a time of poor export demand for US wheat amid ample world supplies and a dollar hovering near 12-year highs.
The US Department of Agriculture on Thursday reported weekly export sales of US wheat for 2014/15 at a net 47,900 tonnes, a marketing year low.
Commodity funds already hold a large net short position in CBOT wheat, the most liquid of the three main US wheat markets. Short-covering helped underpin CBOT wheat futures, despite the decline in K.C. and MGEX wheat futures.
Soybeans ended higher on better-than-expected weekly US soybean export sales, especially for the 2014/15 crop, and some harvest delays in South America.
But rising global soy supplies hung over the market.
"If we can keep doing business and avoid (soybean sales) cancellations, the downside is going to be hard to accelerate. But there is no concern about supply," Ward said.
Corn ended fractionally higher in range-bound trade.
ICE Canada canola futures tumbled as much as 3 percent, pressured by investment fund selling linked to technical weakness, traders said.