Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade climbed to a 1-1/2 week high on Thursday, rallying from contract lows this week as concerns about weather in the southern US Plains and the Delta ignited a round of short-covering, traders said. CBOT May wheat settled up 9-1/2 cents at $4.59-3/4 a bushel. K.C. hard red winter wheat and MGEX spring wheat futures also advanced, following the trend. Funds held a record-large net short position in CBOT and K.C. wheat as of February 23, leaving those markets vulnerable to bouts of short-covering.
Dryness is seen expanding in the southern US Plains over the next two weeks, potentially stressing HRW wheat crops that have exited dormancy earlier than normal. Also, showers next week could cause "localized flooding" in parts of the Mississippi River Delta soft red winter wheat belt, the Commodity Weather Group said. USDA reported export sales of US wheat in the week to February 25 at 344,300 tonnes of old crop and 66,300 tonnes of new crop, in line with trade expectations for combined-year sales of 200,000 to 450,000 tonnes.
A shipment of Canadian wheat rejected in Egypt over concerns it contained traces of the ergot fungus has been re-exported to Europe. Ukraine's 2016/17 wheat harvest is expected to drop by about 20 percent from a year ago, to 19 million to 20 million tonnes, as dry weather at planting takes a toll, an agricultural broker said. Millers in India have made their first international wheat purchases of the year, taking two Australian shipments in recent deals for arrival in April, trade sources said. CBOT reported 233 March soft red wheat deliveries and one delivery of K.C. hard red wheat. MGEX reported no March spring wheat deliveries.
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