U.S. wheat firms on worries about Australian, Russian crops
Category: Grains
(Reuters) – U.S. wheat futures rose on Tuesday, supported by expectations that the U.S. government will cut its harvest forecasts for key exporters Russia and Australia, traders said.
The U.S. Agriculture Department will release its latest estimate of global wheat production and stocks in a report on Thursday.
Kansas City Board of Trade hard red winter wheat futures led the market, with the front-month December contract gaining 0.75 percent. Cuts to Australian and Russian production would tighten up global stocks and boost demand for high-protein wheat on the world market.
The average of analysts’ estimates in Reuters poll forecast the USDA report to cut global ending stocks to 172.813 million tonnes from its earlier estimate of 176.710 million tonnes.
A firm dollar, which makes U.S. exports more costly to overseas buyers, limited Tuesday’s gains.
USDA said weekly wheat export inspections were 13.211 million bushels compared with 24.553 million a week ago. Analysts had expected wheat export inspections from 23 million to 27 million.
Syria issued a tender to buy 100,000 tonnes of milling wheat.
Russian Agriculture Minister Nikolai Fyodorov continued to dismiss the prospect of grain export restrictions despite the country’s poor harvest.
Light rains are expected by Saturday in most of the U.S. Plains hard red winter wheat region, which will help buoy fall seeding prospects but more rain needed to relieve parched soils, said Don Keeney, meteorologist for MDA EarthSat Weather.
