CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures declined on Tuesday, with the benchmark March contract hitting a two-month low on improving US winter wheat crop ratings, strong export competition and rising estimates of Australia's harvest, traders said.

CBOT March soft red winter wheat settled down 7-3/4 cents at $5.77-1/4 a bushel after dipping to $5.74, its lowest since Oct. 2.

Additional pressure noted in front-month December wheat after the CBOT reported 100 December deliveries, with no strong commercial stoppers.

K.C. March hard red winter wheat ended down 8 cents at $5.39 a bushel, and MGEX March spring wheat fell 3-3/4 cents to settle at $5.49-1/4.

Underscoring global competition from suppliers in the Black Sea region, Egypt's main state grains buyer purchased 170,000 tonnes of Russian and Ukrainian wheat in an international purchase tender. No US wheat was offered.

The US Department of Agriculture late Monday rated 46% of US winter wheat in good to excellent condition, up from 43% a week earlier, bucking trade expectations for no change.

Traders were still digesting news that the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) raised its estimate of the country's 2020/21 wheat harvest to 31.17 million tonnes, from its September forecast of 28.91 million.