Wednesday, 25 March 2015 02:38
CHICAGO: Wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 2 percent on Tuesday, pressured by profit-taking after a four-session rally and an upturn in the dollar, which makes US grains less attractive on the world market, traders said.
Wheat also lost ground versus corn on inter-market spreads, with corn buoyed by concerns about a late start to planting in southern US crop areas.
Additional pressure stemmed from weekly USDA wheat condition ratings improving in several Plains states, including Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas, which eased concerns about drought. Ratings held steady in Kansas, the top US winter wheat state.
Forecasts for much-needed rain in Russia next week added pressure, although the US Plains wheat belt should stay mostly dry for the next 10 days.
CBOT May wheat held above chart support at its 50-day moving average near $ 5.17.
K.C. hard red winter and MGEX spring wheat futures followed CBOT wheat lower.
Ukraine’s 2015 wheat harvest is likely to fall to 20.6 million tonnes from 22.5 million in 2014, due to unfavorable weather during the autumn sowing and a smaller sown area, analyst UkrAgroConsult said.
A flour mill in Oman bought about 60,000 tonnes of milling wheat to be sourced from Russia, priced at around $ 230 a tonne cost and freight, traders said.
Copyright Reuters, 2015
