Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat futures eased on Tuesday on a warmer, drier winter crop harvest weather forecast for parts of the US Plains and Midwest, traders said. CBOT July soft red winter wheat settled down 2-1/4 cents at $5.35-3/4 a bushel. September futures shed 2-1/2 cents to $5.40 a bushel.
K.C. July hard red winter wheat ended down 1/4 cent at $4.65-1/4 a bushel. MGEX July spring wheat rose 5 cents to $5.48-1/2 a bushel, lifted by worsening spring crop ratings. The US Department of Agriculture late Monday said the US winter wheat harvest was 15% complete, behind the five-year average of 34% and an average of analyst expectations for 19%.
The USDA also rated 75% of the US spring wheat crop in good to excellent condition, down from 77% a week earlier. Analysts on average had expected no change. Wheat prices remain underpinned by concerns about stressful heat in Europe and the some areas of the Black Sea region.
Conditions for Russia's spring wheat harvest are generally good or satisfactory with only a few areas affected by a heatwave that has hit some parts of the country, state weather forecaster Hydrometcentre said on Tuesday. Traders are squaring positions ahead of the upcoming G20 summit and the USDA's US acreage and quarterly stocks reports due on Friday at 11 a.m. CDT (1600 GMT).