Wheat Market Stabilizes as Russian Exports Forecast to Drop

The wheat market is showing some signs of stability on Wednesday morning, with prices holding higher after a slight drop on Tuesday. According to data from Barchart, Chicago SRW contracts are mixed, with front months up by fractions of a cent and deferreds steady or slightly lower. Open interest was down 1,232 contracts on Tuesday.

The weekly NASS Crop Progress report showed that 81% of the US winter wheat crop had been harvested by Sunday, which is 2% ahead of normal. Spring wheat conditions were steady at 53% good to excellent, but spring wheat itself was only 92% headed and 1% behind its 5-year average pace.

SovEcon estimates that Russian wheat exports will total 44.6 million metric tons, a drop of 1.9 million metric tons from their previous number. EU soft wheat exports for the month of July were down to 0.57 million metric tons, according to European Commission data.