Hard red winter wheat futures on the Kansas City Board of Trade settled lower on Monday - the ninth straight session of losses - as traders eyed more favourable harvest weather. July settled 10-3/4 cents per bushel lower at $6.04 and ranged from $6.02 to $6.08. Rain stalled weekend harvest in Kansas, the No 1 US wheat-growing state, but hot, dry weather was forecast for the week ahead.
Better wheat yields seen as harvest moves north, but protein levels are lower. Concerns about protein seen supporting Minneapolis wheat. Lack of fresh export news weighed. End users seen taking coverage through the end of 2009 at the lows. Weak crude oils futures, stronger US dollar weighed on all grain markets. Rain soaked large swath of Canada's main wheat-growing province of Saskatchewan, but missed severely dry areas in Alberta.
Traders expect USDA to show harvest progress late on Monday at 18 percent, from 9 percent last week. Amount of winter wheat in good-excellent condition in USDA report expected to be unchanged to up 1 percent. Israeli consortium tenders for 35,000 tonnes of feed wheat of European origin. Australian exporters missing out on wheat sales to Asia because of tight supplies, logistics problems.