Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were lower on early Wednesday on commission house selling and heavy first-day deliveries against the December contract, traders said.
Traders shrugged off news from USDA that Iraq recently bought 200,000 tonnes of US wheat. That news was largely factored into the market already, they said.
As of 11 am CST (1700 GMT), CBOT December wheat was down 5 cents at $2.95-1/2 per bushel, with most-active March down 5-1/4 at $3.11-1/2. ABN Amro was a featured seller of 1,000 March contracts, while Man Financial and Shatkin Arbor Inc each sold 400 to 500 March, traders said. Iowa Grain sold 500 July, they said.
Heavy deliveries set the bearish tone in wheat futures. Deliveries on the December contract totalled 2,422 lots, well above trade expectations for 400 to 1,000.