The wheat market experienced gains leading into the long weekend, with Chicago SRW futures rising by 7 to 8 cents on Friday. Key prices include March CBOT wheat closing at $5.18, up 7.5 cents, and May closing at $5.28 3/4, up 7.25 cents. Kansas City (KCBT) and Minneapolis (MIAX) futures also saw increases, with the former up 9 to 10 cents and the latter up 2 to 3 cents. The markets will close on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, reopening later that evening.
According to the latest Commitment of Traders data, managed money reduced its net short position in Chicago wheat futures to 106,229 contracts as of January 13, trimming 936 contracts from the previous week. In the Kansas City wheat futures, speculators were net short 12,781 contracts, a decrease of 2,874 contracts week-on-week.
As of January 8, total wheat export commitments reached 20.392 million metric tons (MMT), 15% higher than the previous year and accounting for 83% of the USDA’s export projection. South Korea recently purchased 92,300 MT of U.S. wheat through a tender.
