Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures fell nearly 3 percent on Monday on profit-taking after Friday’s three-week high and expectations that recent rains in the US Plains and Midwest improved winter wheat conditions, traders said. Spot CBOT December wheat fell about 2.7 percent, the most in two months, dropping through support at its 100-day moving average near $5.17 and settling at $5.08, down 14 cents on the day.
K.C. hard red winter and MGEX spring wheat futures followed CBOT wheat lower. Ahead of USDA’s weekly crop progress report due later on Monday, analysts surveyed by Reuters expected the government to rate 50 percent of the US winter wheat crop as good to excellent, up from 47 percent a week earlier. USDA reported export inspections of US wheat in the latest week at 170,993 tonnes, below trade expectations for 275,000 to 400,000 tonnes.
Algeria’s state grains agency bought about 350,000 tonnes of durum wheat for shipment in December and January likely to be sourced from Canada, European traders said. Severe drought across half of Ukraine has hit winter sowing and could sharply reduce the country’s 2016 wheat harvest, a senior state weather forecaster said.
