Wheat Market Sees Gains While Tariffs on USMCA Are Paused

The wheat market rebounded across all three exchanges as Thursday’s trading came to a close. Chicago SRW futures edged down from intraday highs yet still finished the day 5 to 7 cents higher. Meanwhile, KC HRW futures rose by 8 to 10 cents in most front months, and MPLS spring wheat recorded gains of 5 to 6 cents in the nearby contracts.

Trade Agreement Extension and Tariff Updates

Following recent discussions about tariffs, President Trump announced a one-month pause on all tariffs affecting the USMCA trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. Consequently, Canada has delayed its planned tariffs on $125 billion in US goods until April 2.

Export Sales Data and Wheat Market Insights

The latest Export Sales data revealed 338,703 MT of wheat sales for the week ending February 27. This number sits comfortably within market estimates, showing a robust increase of 25.91% compared to the prior week and 24.92% compared to the same week last year. Notably, Mexico was the largest buyer at 91,900 MT, followed by the Philippines at 66,600 MT. Additionally, new crop estimates surpassed expectations at 77,000 MT.

Data from the monthly Census release indicated January wheat exports totaled 1.313 MT (48.26 million bushels), marking the lowest figure for that month since 1972. This figure reflects a decline of 20.53% year-over-year and a 9.4% decrease from December.

In another development, South Korean importers procured a total of 98,200 MT of wheat from the US and Canada overnight, with 50,000 MT specified for US sources.

Closing Prices for Wheat Futures

Mar 25 CBOT Wheat closed at $5.37, up 18 1/2 cents.

May 25 CBOT Wheat closed at $5.54, up 5 3/4 cents.

Mar 25 KCBT Wheat closed at $5.51 1/2, up 17 1/2 cents.

May 25 KCBT Wheat closed at $5.65 3/4, up 8 3/4 cents.

Mar 25 MGEX Wheat closed at $5.79 1/4, up 14 3/4 cents.

May 25 MGEX Wheat closed at $5.94, up 6 cents.

On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.

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