Soft red winter wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower on Monday as favourable US crop weather and a lack of export business triggered scattered speculative selling, traders said.
Weak domestic cash markets for SRW wheat added to the weak tone. May wheat ended down 5-3/4 cents at $4.55 per bushel after matching Friday's 5-1/2-month low of $4.52. Back months closed down 3-1/2 to 5 cents.
Funds sold 3,000 contracts on the day, they said. Volume was moderate, estimated by the CBOT at 63,440 wheat futures and 7,946 options. Weekly export data was disappointing. The US Department of Agriculture said 13.5 million bushels of US wheat were inspected for export last week, below a range of trade estimates for 15 million to 20 million.
However, after Monday's decline, Egypt's main wheat buyer said it was seeking 55,000 to 60,000 tonnes of US, French, Australian, German, Argentine and/or Kazakh wheat for shipment April 16-30. Egypt was also seeking 30,000 to 60,000 tonnes of Russian, UK milling or Syrian wheat.
Results of the tender were expected on Tuesday and could influence opening calls in CBOT wheat. Near-optimal weather conditions in the in the US Plains wheat belt weighed on futures. Warm and wet weather expected this week should promote spring growth of the hard red winter wheat crop. "There are no problems with the winter wheat," one CBOT trader said.
State reports issued by the USDA late Monday reflected the favourable conditions. USDA said 70 percent of the winter wheat in Kansas, the top US wheat state, was rated in good to excellent condition, up from 60 percent the previous week.
Wheat ratings also improved in Oklahoma and Texas. Trade data issued Friday by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in its CIT supplement showed managed funds (excluding index funds) expanded their net short position in CBOT wheat to 13,335 contracts as of March 13, up nearly 1,000 lots.
Index funds trimmed their net long to 192,701 contracts. In Kansas City, funds (excluding index funds) trimmed their net long to 28,281 contracts. Index funds pared their net long in KCBT wheat to 28,592 lots.