Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell more than 1 percent on Thursday, retreating on bearish fundamentals after a two-day short-covering rally stalled, traders said. Record-large global supplies and weak export demand for US wheat continue to hang over the market, keeping prices near recent contract lows.
MGEX spring wheat futures also closed lower but K.C. hard red winter wheat closed mixed, underpinned by concerns that unusually warm weather in the southern US Plains might cause a portion of the region's winter wheat to break dormancy and lose some of its winter hardiness. Consultancy Strategie Grains raised its forecast for EU 2016/17 soft wheat exports to 30.6 million tonnes, up 1.7 million from its previous estimate.
Farm office FranceAgriMer raised its forecast for French soft wheat ending stocks for 2015/16 to 6.0 million tonnes, up from 5.8 million last month and the highest in 17 years. Ahead of the USDA's weekly export sales report due on Friday, a day later than normal, analysts expect the government to show US wheat sales in the week to February 11 at 200,000 to 400,000 tonnes.