Spring wheat futures on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange settled lower on Monday, retreating from advances on hedge-related selling and a breakdown in Chicago Board of Trade wheat, traders said.
"Country movement was fairly good after the weekend. Temperatures were mild enough in the Dakotas that they were still moving wheat," one Minneapolis trader said. He added that conditions were forecast to worsen by midweek, boosting the incentive for cash wheat sales.
MGE December spring wheat settled down 9-1/4 cents, or 1.8 percent, at $5.00-1/4 per bushel, after trading between $4.98-1/2 and $5.15. March ended down 6-1/2 cents at $5.17. The December/March spread traded at a carry of 15-1/4 to 16 cents as traders exited December positions ahead of the contract's delivery period.
Open interest in MGE December had declined to 4,492 lots before the open. The market had support from inter-market spreads, as firms put on long Minneapolis/short Chicago wheat positions, traders said. They were also unwinding long Minneapolis/short Kansas City spreads. But Chicago wheat tumbled late on profit taking and corn/wheat spreads, dragging Minneapolis and Kansas City prices down with it.
CBOT December wheat settled 9-3/4 cents lower at $4.90-1/4 a bushel and KCBT December ended down 3 cents at $5.18. Weekly export inspections issued by the US Agriculture Department on Monday came in on the low end of estimates, casting a bearish tone over the wheat market. The government said 13.5 million bushels of wheat were inspected for export last week, compared with trade estimates for 13 million to 19 million.
The USDA said year-to-date wheat inspections totalled 401.4 million bushels, down 19 percent from a year ago. In overnight news, China said it sold 1.08 million tonnes of wheat from state reserves during the weekend in an effort to boost supplies and ease domestic prices.
Traders said the news was viewed as an internal adjustment that had little impact on US futures. India said 3.2 million tonnes of imported wheat had arrived at its ports, part of the 5.5 million tonnes contracted after a poor crop. The Egyptian government expects farmers to plant 3.1 million acres of wheat this year, about the same as last year.
Wheat futures had light underlying support from concerns about recent dryness in the US Plains stressing the new crop of hard red winter wheat. After the close, the USDA said 53 percent of the US winter wheat crop was rated in good to excellent condition, down from 57 percent the previous week.
Traders were awaiting the release on Monday afternoon of CFTC Commitments of Traders report, which was delayed from Friday due to the US Thanksgiving Day holiday last week.