Wheat Prices Surge on Friday Amid Strong Demand and Production Expectations
The wheat market is showing strong gains on Friday, across all major markets. Chicago SRW contracts are up by 11 to 12 ½ cents at midday, while KC HRW futures have risen by 16 to 18 cents so far today. MPLS spring wheat is also higher, with prices up by 11 to 12 cents as the market heads into the weekend.
The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) will release updated production data for wheat on Wednesday in its Crop Production report. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expect a total of 1.525 billion bushels (bbu), which is an 11 million bushel cut from July's estimate. Winter wheat is forecast to be down 9 million bushels to 981 million, while spring wheat is expected to slip 7 million bushels to 468 million.
The USDA has forecasted a total of 1.525 billion bushels for the marketing year, but export sales data from Thursday showed that total wheat sales have fallen by 29% compared to the same period last year. This represents only 35% of the USDA's forecast and lags behind the 44% pace seen at this time last year.