US Wheat Market Posts Mixed Trade Amid Harvest Progress and Export Updates

The US wheat market posted mixed trade on Monday, with winter wheats holding firm and spring wheat slipping lower. The Chicago Soft Red Winter (SRW) contracts saw fractional to 4 cent gains on the day.

Kansas City Hard Red Winter (HRW) futures were mostly fractionally to 2 ¾ cents higher, but September contracts fell by ½ cent. Minneapolis spring wheat, however, was 1 ¼ to 9 ½ cents lower across most contracts.

The recent NASS Crop Progress report showed that 91% of the US winter wheat crop had been harvested by Sunday, matching the normal pace. The spring wheat crop, on the other hand, was 24% harvested, ahead of its 5-year average pace of 19%. Spring wheat conditions were down 4%, with a good-to-excellent rating of 51%, and the Brugler500 index dropped 9 points to 339.

The weekly Export Inspections report revealed that wheat shipments reached 421,277 MT (15.48 mbu) in the week ending August 6th. This was a 24.36% increase from the previous week and 1.55% larger than the same period last year. Japan received 81,506 MT of wheat, while Mexico and the Philippines each took in 78,035 MT and 66,000 MT respectively.

The marketing year's wheat shipments are now at 3.332 MMT (122.4 mbu), a 24.56% decrease from last year. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expect updated production data for wheat on Wednesday via the monthly Crop Production report, predicting 1.525 bbu of wheat, an '11 mbu cut from July if realized.

APK-Inform reduced their Ukrainian wheat export forecast to 13.5 MMT for 2026/27, with total grain exports dropping 3.7 MMT to 39.4 MMT. On Monday, the CBOT Wheat September contract closed at $6.40 1/2, up 3/4 cent, while the December contract ended at $6.59 1/4, a 1 cent increase.