CBOT wheat futures end week lower, following corn slump

CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat futures slipped on Friday amid profit-taking, ending the week lower following declines in corn prices, traders said.

* CBOT September soft red winter wheat settled down 3-1/2 cents to close at $4.96 per bushel.

* For the week, the September contract shed 6.5 cents per bushel or about 1.3%, its second consecutive weekly decline.

* K.C. September hard red winter wheat ended down 5-1/2 cents at $4.32 a bushel, and MGEX September spring wheat edged up 1-1/2 cents at $5.24-1/2 a bushel.

* Argentine wheat farmers are preparing for a record harvest, even as global rivals see crop yield prospects cut amid floods in the United States, searing heat in Europe and drought in Australia.

* The supplement to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments report showed large speculators expanded their net short position in CBOT wheat by about 5,900 contracts in the week to July 25, to 30,793 lots.

* SovEcon, an agriculture consultancy, lowered its forecast for Russia's 2019-20 wheat exports by 6.2 million tonnes to 31.4 million tonnes.

* China approved wheat imports from the Russian region of Kurgan, the Chinese customs office said.

* France should harvest between 38 and 39 million tonnes of soft wheat this summer with quality levels meeting export standards, grain exporter Soufflet said.

* The Wheat Quality Council's annual US spring wheat tour on Thursday projected an average yield of 43.1 bushels per acre (bpa) after scouting 356 spring wheat fields in North Dakota and parts of Minnesota. The figure was up from the tour's 2018 projection of

41.1 bpa, but below its five-year average of 44.7.