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The wheat market experienced losses across all major trading platforms on Friday. CBT soft red wheat futures dropped by 6 to 7¼ cents, with December contracts ending down 2¾ cents for the week. KC HRW futures declined by 6 to 7 cents, and December contracts finished 1¾ cents lower. MPLS spring wheat futures lost 5 to 6 cents, with December holding a slight gain of ¼ cent compared to last week.
As of September 23, spec traders in Chicago increased their net short positions in wheat futures by 12,110 contracts to 97,935, while Kansas City managed money trimmed their net short by 1,230 contracts to 50,304. Additionally, the USDA Export Sales report indicated export commitments at 13.699 million metric tons, marking a 23% increase from last year and the highest since the 2013/14 season. This figure represents 56% of the USDA’s export projection and exceeds the five-year average of 54%.
Estimates for U.S. wheat stocks as of September 1 are projected at 2.054 billion bushels, according to Bloomberg, with a range of estimates from 1.975 to 2.22 billion bushels. Russian wheat exports are estimated at 43.4 million metric tons, down 0.3 million from previous estimates.
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