As of midday on Tuesday, Chicago soft red winter (SRW) wheat futures are slightly up, while Kansas City hard red winter (HRW) wheat futures are down 2-3 cents. The USDA reported that 7% of the US winter wheat crop is headed, exceeding the 5% five-year average, but the condition rating stands at only 35% good/excellent, below the expected 42% and last year’s 48% at this time. Notably, the Brugler500 index is at 298 points, marking the seventh lowest start since 1990.
In upcoming reports, analysts anticipate the USDA will reduce the US ending stocks estimate by 8 million bushels to 923 million bushels. Meanwhile, Argus has updated the Russian wheat crop estimate to 88.7 million metric tons, and the European Commission reports that EU wheat exports from July 1 to April 5 have reached 18 million metric tons, exceeding last year’s figures by 1.21 million metric tons.
