Spring wheat futures on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange closed higher on Thursday, trailing strong export-driven advances in the Chicago and Kansas City wheat markets, traders said. Minneapolis September spring wheat settled up 12-3/4 cents at $6.15 per bushel, with December ups 12 cents at $6.21. Front-month July, which is in delivery, ended up 10 cents at $6.15.
There were no deliveries against the July for Thursday. Volume was estimated by the exchange at 4,007 contracts. ADM Investor Services bought 150 December contracts and UBS Warburg was a late buyer of 100 December, traders said. UBS sold 100 September and 100 December.
Country Hedging sold 100 December. The September/December spread went out bid at a 9-1/2 cent carry and offered at 8 cents. July/September traded lightly at a 5-cent inverse. At the CBOT, September wheat climbed 21 cents to close at $6.04 per bushel buoyed by sales of US wheat to Iraq and Egypt.
Wheat futures got a boost after the US Department of Agriculture said private exporters reported the sale of 100,000 tonnes of US hard red winter wheat to Iraq for 2007/08. Egypt on Wednesday bought 175,000 tonnes of wheat, including 115,000 tonnes of US soft red winter wheat. And Jordan issued tenders to buy 100,000 tonnes of hard wheat and 150,000 tonnes of barley, European traders said.
Meanwhile, Syria's state grain agency told customers it may have to cancel export contracts for up to 550,000 tonnes of soft wheat and 200,000 to 300,000 tonnes of durum because of a poor harvest, European traders said on Wednesday. French arable crop office ONIGC put France's soft wheat output in 2007/08 at 35 million tonnes, up 5 percent from last year.
But the agency said European Union wheat exports outside the bloc would fall to 8.5 million to 9.5 million tonnes, from 10.7 million in 2006/07. On a bearish note, India's wheat output this year will not fall below 73.7 million tonnes, which may reduce import needs a farm official in New Delhi said. India received seven bids for a 1 million tonne wheat import tender at prices between $320-$360 per tonne, levels at which traders said the government was unlikely to buy large quantities.