Chicago wheat futures fell to a 2-1/2-month low on Friday, pressured by expectations of big deliveries next week and strength in the US dollar, during a shortened trading session after the Thanksgiving holiday. Expectations of big wheat deliveries, starting with first notice day on Monday for December contracts, weighed on the market, traders and analysts said. Estimates were for zero to 336 deliveries against Chicago wheat futures.
The US dollar gained 0.2 percent around midday, making US exports less competitive on a day when weekly wheat export sales disappointed. “The dollar is very strong, just killing anything that we export,” said Bill Biedermann, a trader at Allendale Inc. Chicago Board of Trade December wheat dropped 13-1/2 cents or 2.8 percent, to $4.65-3/4 a bushel, touching the lowest nearby price since September 11. For the week, the contract lost 4.7 percent.
US Department of Agriculture reported weekly US wheat export sales of 303,700 tonnes for 2015/16, below the range of trade estimates from 400,000 to 600,000 tonnes. December corn fell 6-3/4 cents or 1.8 percent to $3.59-1/4 a bushel, despite larger-than-expected weekly corn sales of more than 2 million tonnes. It finished with a 1.1 percent weekly loss. January soyabeans lost 2-1/4 cents or 0.2 percent to $8.73 a bushel, weakened by ample world stocks. The contract gained 1.8 percent for the week, its first weekly gain in six weeks. Weekly soyabean export sales of nearly 1.2 million tonnes fell in the low end of a range of expectations. US markets were closed on Thursday for the Thanksgiving holiday.
