CBoT wheat futures down

Wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade closed lower on Friday, shedding 4 percent in value in a key reversal from multiyear highs set earlier in a wild, roller-coaster session, traders said.
Traders attributed the collapse to profit taking and bearish news in a government acreage report that pressured CBoT soft red winter wheat relative to the hard wheat markets in Kansas City and Minneapolis. The US Department of Agriculture on Friday raised its estimate of US all-wheat plantings to 60.505 million acres, above the average analyst estimate for 60.382 million.
The USDA raised soft red winter wheat acreage to 8.8 million acres, up from 8.66 million in March. "We've got a pending harvest here coming at us, and there are some good wheat areas. And we have more acres of soft wheat and more bushels of carry-over than we had Friday," said Gordon Linn of the Linn Group in Chicago.
CBoT July wheat ended down 27 cents at $5.82 per bushel after soaring to $6.33-3/4, a contract top and the highest spot wheat price in 11 years. Each of the front three contracts traded in huge ranges of more than 50 cents.
Most months hit contract highs, and yet the bellwether September briefly plunged its 30-cent limit in the final minutes of trade. September wheat traded from its new high of $6.50 down to $5.93-3/4, settling at $5.97. Back months ended down 13-1/2 to 26-3/4 cents.
Commodity funds sold at least 7,000 wheat contracts, with some analysts estimating up to 10,000 contracts. Fimat USA sold 1,500 September toward the close, while Goldenberg Hehmeyer sold 3,000 all day, traders said. Wheat was also pressured by inter-market spreads as funds exited long wheat/short corn positions, which had widened to historic levels.
CBoT wheat fell back relative to wheat futures in Kansas City and Minneapolis. Minneapolis Grain Exchange spring wheat closed higher, supported by a drop in US spring wheat seedings and rising demand for high-protein wheat.
"We've got more of a quality market coming," Linn said. USDA pegged US spring wheat area at 13.144 million acres, below the average trade estimate of 13.899 million. "Spring wheat acreage is down and there was clearly a weather problem," said Greg Wagner of Horizon Ag Strategies.
CBoT wheat surged early in the session, following as soybean futures climbed their daily trading limit of 50 cents a bushel on a smaller-than-expected US soybean acreage figure. By midday, soybeans were off their highs and corn was sharply lower.
Wheat futures also drew early support from continuing harvest delays due to rain in the southern US Plains, and also soaring European values. French milling wheat futures set record highs as wet weather diminished European crop prospects.
Quarterly stocks data was bearish. The USDA reported June 1 wheat stocks at 456 million bushels, well above the average analyst estimate of 419 million. Deliveries against the CBoT July wheat contract on first notice day totalled 1,722 lots, below estimates for 2,000 to 3,000 lots.
Customers of the Astro Division of UBS Securities issued 1,640 lots, while customers of Tenco Inc and ADM Investor Services stopped 571 and 556 contracts, respectively. There were no July wheat deliveries at the Kansas City Board of Trade or the Minneapolis Grain Exchange.