Wheat Markets Show Mixed Signals Amid Recent Weakness

Wheat is showing slight strength on Thursday morning, recovering from a downturn earlier in the week. On Wednesday, the wheat market experienced another round of weakness, with Chicago SRW futures declining by 8 to 9 cents at the close. Kansas City HRW contracts also posted losses, ranging from 4 to 6 cents in the nearby contracts. Additionally, MPLS spring wheat extended its slide, recording declines of 3 to 4 cents due to midweek weakness.

Upcoming USDA Data and Sales Outlook

The USDA’s Export Sales data will be released on Thursday morning, with traders anticipating 2024/25 sales to fall between 0 and 550,000 metric tons for the week ending March 20. New crop wheat sales are projected to be between 100,000 to 300,000 metric tons.

The coming week is expected to bring significant rainfall to much of the SRW region, particularly over the weekend and into early next week. However, precipitation for main HRW areas is predicted to be limited, focusing primarily on parts of central and southern Texas.

Grain Stocks and Import Activity

NASS will report the March 1 Grain Stocks data next Monday. A Bloomberg survey of traders estimates an average of 1.221 billion bushels of wheat on hand, with predictions ranging from 1.169 billion to 1.26 billion bushels for the total.

Additionally, Taiwan importers have purchased a total of 100,000 metric tons of US wheat overnight, indicating ongoing demand in the international market.

Current Wheat Market Prices

As of the most recent trading sessions:

• May 25 CBOT Wheat closed at $5.35 1/4, down 8 cents, but currently up 1 1/2 cents
• July 25 CBOT Wheat closed at $5.51, down 8 3/4 cents, currently up 1 1/2 cents
• May 25 KCBT Wheat closed at $5.65, down 4 1/4 cents, currently up 4 3/4 cents
• July 25 KCBT Wheat closed at $5.79 1/4, down 5 1/2 cents, currently up 4 3/4 cents
• May 25 MGEX Wheat closed at $5.85 1/4, down 3 1/4 cents, currently up 5 3/4 cents
• July 25 MGEX Wheat closed at $6.01, down 4 cents, currently up 5 1/2 cents

On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not hold any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article are for informational purposes only. For more details, please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.