Wheat Prices Surge as USDA Awaits September Grains Summary

The wheat complex rallied across major exchanges on Thursday, with Chicago SRW contracts posting gains of 5 ¾ to 12 ½ cents. KC HRW futures saw higher trade of 10 ¼ to 12 ¾ cents at the close. MPLS spring wheat saw contracts close 12 ½ to 15 ¾ cents in the green.

The USDA is likely to leave US production estimates alone in this month's WASDE, as they wait for the Small Grains Summary on September 30. They will have a chance to update the rest of the balance sheet, with traders looking for few changes, as a Bloomberg survey shows an average guess of 718 mbu, just 1 mbu above August.

On the world side, stocks are seen down 0.3 MMT to 273 MMT. The USDA will also update export sales data on Friday, which is delayed due to the Monday holiday. Traders surveyed by Reuters are looking for between 250,000 and 500,000 MT in the week ending on September 3.