Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on Wednesday on bargain-buying and short-covering after falling to the lowest levels in nearly six years, traders said. CBOT May wheat settled up 4-1/4 cents at $4.50-1/4 a bushel after dipping to $4.42-1/4, a contract low and the cheapest price for a most-active contract since June 2010.
K.C. hard red winter wheat futures and MGEX spring wheat futures also closed higher. Spot March spring wheat surged to a one-month high in thin volume ahead of the contract's March 14 expiration. Light support from dry conditions in the southern fringes of the US Plains, where very little rain is forecast in the next two weeks.
Egypt's state grain buyer purchased 180,000 tonnes of wheat in a tender, including 120,000 tonnes of Romanian and 60,000 tonnes of Ukrainian wheat. Market's rally dampened by bearish fundamentals including record-large world wheat stocks and weak export demand for US supplies. CBOT reported 525 March soft red wheat deliveries and six deliveries of K.C. hard red wheat. MGEX reported six March spring wheat deliveries.