Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Board of Trade soft wheat futures rose on Thursday while K.C. hard red winter wheat fell to multi-year lows on poor export demand and much-needed rains falling in key U.S. crop areas, traders said.
Corn and soybeans ended nearly unchanged after a choppy session.
At the CBOT, May wheat settled up 3-3/4 cents at $4.94-1/2 per bushel (all figures US$). K.C. May hard red winter wheat ended down 6-1/4 cents at $5.08-1/4 after falling to $5.05-1/2, the lowest spot price since July 2010.
Read Also
Alberta crop conditions improve: report
Varied precipitation and warm temperatures were generally beneficial for crop development across Alberta during the week ended July 8, according to the latest provincial crop report released July 11.
May soybeans rose one cent at $9.66 a bushel while May corn ended up 1/4 cent at $3.76-1/4 a bushel.
K.C. (Kansas City) wheat futures, now traded in Chicago, represent hard red winter wheat, the largest U.S. wheat class, which is grown in the Plains and milled into flour for bread. Portions of the region are in the grip of a multi-year drought.
Showers in central Kansas were forecast to expand in the central Plains through the weekend, bringing one to five centimetres of rain to 80 per cent of the wheat belt.
“We think one inch (of rain) or less would be disappointing, (but) it will buy some time and stabilize crop ratings,” said Jason Ward, analyst with Northstar Commodity Investment Co. in Minneapolis.
The likely boost in crop prospects comes at a time of poor export demand for U.S. wheat amid ample world supplies and a dollar hovering near 12-year highs.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday reported weekly export sales of U.S. wheat for 2014-15 at a net 47,900 tonnes, a marketing year low.
Commodity funds already hold a large net short position in CBOT wheat, the most liquid of the three main U.S. wheat markets. Short-covering helped underpin CBOT wheat futures, despite the decline in K.C. and MGEX wheat futures.
Soybeans ended higher on better-than-expected weekly U.S. soybean export sales, especially for the 2014-15 crop, and some harvest delays in South America. But rising global soy supplies hung over the market.
“If we can keep doing business and avoid (soybean sales) cancellations, the downside is going to be hard to accelerate. But there is no concern about supply,” Ward said.
CBOT corn ended fractionally higher in rangebound trade.
ICE Futures Canada canola futures tumbled as much as three per cent, pressured by investment fund selling linked to technical weakness, traders said.
— Julie Ingwersen is a Reuters correspondent covering grain markets from Chicago. Additional reporting for Reuters by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Colin Packham in Sydney.
