Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell more than 3 percent on Monday, with the spot contract hitting its lowest in a decade, pressured by plentiful world supplies and fund-driven selling, traders said. Market also pressured by news that top global importer Egypt on Sunday reinstated a controversial ban on wheat shipments containing any amount of ergot, a common grain fungus.
Just last month, Egypt said it would accept imported wheat shipments containing 0.05 percent ergot, a common international standard, settling a dispute with suppliers that had hampered the country's massive purchasing program. CBOT September wheat settled down 13 cents at $3.70-1/2 per bushel after dipping to $3.69-1/2, the cheapest spot price on a continuous chart since August 2006.
Contract lows set across the board in CBOT wheat, K.C. hard red winter wheat futures and in most MGEX spring wheat contracts. The US Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of US wheat in the latest week at 511,965 tonnes, in line with trade expectations for 400,000 to 650,000 tonnes.