Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures fell on Friday, dipping below $5 a bushel for the first time in three months on end-of-month fund selling amid ample world supplies, traders said. A rising dollar added pressure, making US grains less attractive on the world market.
K.C. hard red winter and MGEX spring wheat also ended lower, but the front to K.C. contracts stayed above contract lows set a day earlier. K.C. wheat was pressured by storms that should bring welcome moisture to the US Plains this weekend. Snowfall in the Midwest ahead of a cold spell next week should limit freeze damage to soft wheat.
For the month, spot CBOT wheat fell 87 cents a bushel, or 14.7 percent, its biggest monthly slide since September 2011. Spot K.C. wheat fell 86-1/4 cents or 13.8 percent. Spot MGEX spring wheat fell 65-1/4 cents or 10.5 percent. Several vessels loading tens of thousands of tonnes of wheat for top importer Egypt are stuck in Russia's Black Sea ports ahead of the launch of an export tax in Moscow, trade sources said.