CBOT wheat drops as international supply shoulders out US exports

CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed lower on Thursday as the international market weighed crop outlook.

CBOT September soft red winter wheat settled down 5 cents at $5.29-1/2 per bushel.

K.C. September hard red winter wheat ended down 7-1/4 cents at $4.41-1/4 a bushel while MGEX September spring wheat fell 4-3/4 cents to end at $5.10 per bushel.

The International Grains Council (IGC) cut its global wheat crop forecast for the 2020/21 season by 6 million tonnes to 762 million tonnes, with production in the EU downwardly revised to 125.6 million tonnes versus a previous projection of 128.4 million, Russia's wheat crop seen at 78 million tonnes, down from a prior projection of 79 million, while the United States was expected to produce 49.6 million, down from 51.1 million seen previously.

Soft wheat exports from the European Union in the 2020/21 season to July 19 totalled 460,329 tonnes, 53% below the volume exported in the previous 2019/20 season, according to official EU data.

Russia shipped two wheat cargoes to Brazil this month, totaling 60,000 tonnes, in the first trades of their kind this year, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The US Agriculture Department reported that weekly export sales of wheat totaled 616,700 tonnes. Analysts' forecasts for the weekly total ranged from 300,000 tonnes to 600,000 tonnes.