CBOT wheat falls; contract lows in K.C., Minneapolis

CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat futures fell to a one-month low on Tuesday, while K.C. and Minneapolis wheat set contract lows under pressure from good US crop ratings and increasing global supply estimates, traders said.

CBOT May soft red winter wheat settled down 14-1/2 cents at $4.45 per bushel. It was the second consecutive day of losses for the market.

The front-month contract touched its lowest price since March 12.

K.C. May hard red winter wheat ended down 10-1/4 cents at $4.17 a bushel and set a contract low of $4.14-1/4.

MGEX May spring wheat ended down 4-1/2 cents at $5.27-1/4 and set a contract low of $5.20-1/2.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), in a weekly report on Monday, rated 60 percent of the US winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition. That was unchanged from the previous week and in line with trade expectations, but up from 31 percent a year ago.

The USDA late on Monday said the US spring wheat crop was 2 percent planted, behind the five-year average of 13 percent.

Traders largely shrugged off the delay, figuring that upcoming warmer weather will allow farmers to plant the crop.

In Germany, the 2019 wheat harvest will increase 20.6 percent on the year to 24.44 million tonnes, the country's association of farm cooperatives (DRV) said.

A day earlier, agriculture consultancy SovEcon raised its forecast for Russia's 2019 wheat crop.