Wheat Prices Rise on Friday Amid Weakening Demand
The wheat market has seen an increase in prices on Friday, across three markets. Chicago SRW contracts rose by 7 to 9 cents, while KC HRW futures and MPLS spring wheat were also higher, with prices up 13 to 15 cents and 8 to 9 cents respectively.
According to the Commitment of Traders data, managed money in CBT wheat futures and options added to their net short position by 16m906 contracts in the week ending August 4. This brings their total net short position to just 23,786 contracts.
The upcoming Crop Production report from NASS will provide updated production data for wheat on Wednesday. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expect a 1.525 bbu harvest, which is an 11 mbu cut from July if realized. Winter wheat is expected to be down 9 mbu to 981 mbu, while spring wheat is seen slipping 7 mbu to 468 mbu.
Export Sales data for the marketing year showed a significant drop in total wheat sales, coming in at 7.277 MMT - a 29% decrease from the same period last year. This represents just 35% of the USDA forecast and lags behind the 44% pace from a year ago.
The French soft wheat crop was estimated to be 31.9 MMT, down just 0.1 MMT from last month's estimate.