Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat futures closed mostly lower on Thursday as heavy deliveries on first notice day pressured the nearby December contract, traders said. Disappointing weekly US export sales data added pressure. CBOT December wheat settled down 7-1/4 cents at $4.09-1/4 per bushel while most-active March ended down 1-3/4 cents at $4.33.
K.C. March hard red winter wheat ended unchanged at $4.31-1/2 while MGEX March spring wheat fell 1-1/2 cents at $6.21-3/4. The CME Group reported 2,000 deliveries against CBOT December wheat futures on first notice day, well above a range of trade expectations. The US Department of Agriculture reported export sales of US wheat in the latest week at 187,400 tonnes (old and new crop years combined), below a range of trade expectations for 250,000 to 450,000 tonnes.
Russia's winter grain sowings are in worse condition than a year ago, but snow and rains may help in December, the head of the weather forecaster Hydrometcentre said.