MGE spring wheat settles mixed

Spring wheat futures on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange closed mixed on Monday in volatile, spread-dominated trade, brokers said. July spring wheat settled unchanged at $6.00 per bushel after spiking early to $6.15, within 1 cent of the 11-year high set last week. September ended down 3 cents at $5.93-1/2 and December was up 2-1/2 at $6.05.
Volume was estimated by the exchange at 8,141 contracts, with nearly all concentrated in the front two months as the inverted July/September remained the focus of the market. The Minneapolis July contract has been trading at a premium to September because concerns about low protein in the US hard red winter wheat harvest have prompted commercials to cover their needs with old-crop spring wheat.
The spread on Monday traded from an inverse of 13 cents to 4 cents, with the last trade at 8 cents. UBS Warburg spread 200 July/September, traders said. In outright trade, Man Financial bought 200 December.
As for the winter wheat harvest, rain delays remained a concern in some areas. DTN Meteorlogix said forecasts called for showers this week in southern Oklahoma and north Texas, while late-week rain in top producer Kansas should be limited to the southern part of the state.
The wheat market had light fundamental support from news that Egypt bought 120,000 tonnes of US soft red winter wheat over the weekend. Also, the USDA said 16.0 million bushels of wheat were inspected for export last week, just above trade estimates for 13 million to 15 million.
In other news, Kazakhstan is prepared to fill gaps in grain supply left by severe drought in Ukraine and Russia, an industry official said. After the markets closed, the US Department of Agriculture reported a drop in US spring wheat ratings, with 79 percent of the crop rated in good to excellent condition, down from 85 percent a week earlier.
Winter wheat ratings also declined, with 48 percent rated good to excellent, down from 50 percent the previous week. The US winter wheat harvest was 22 percent complete, up from 11 percent the previous week but lagging the five-year average of 36 percent.
Statistics Canada was scheduled to release updated planting figures on Tuesday. The average trade estimate for Canadian all-wheat seedings was 23.4 million acres, down from Statscan's March 31 estimate of 23.8 million.