MGE spring wheat higher

Spring wheat futures on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange closed higher on Friday, gaining ground on the Kansas City and Chicago wheat markets as inter-market spreads corrected, traders said. MGE spring wheat normally trades at a premium to wheat on the Chicago and Kansas City exchanges because of its high protein content, prized by flour millers.
But the Minneapolis wheat has been trading at a discount to the other markets in recent weeks as world demand has driven CBOT wheat to all-time highs. Traders said a correction was overdue. Minneapolis December wheat futures had good support at a roughly 30-cent discount to Kansas City December, traders said. Commercial buying added support. However, spring wheat futures backed down from 11-year highs hit early in the session.
Minneapolis September spring wheat settled up 10-3/4 cents at $6.92 per bushel after reaching $7.03, the highest spot price since 1996, shortly after the open. December ended up 5-3/4 cents at $7.11-1/2 and back months were up 13-1/2 to down 4-1/4 cents.
Volume was estimated by the exchange at 9,869 contracts and 1,288 cash exchanges. At the CBOT, December wheat ended down 9 cents at $7.75-1/2 per bushel, weighed by profit-taking after the contract soared to an all-time high of $8.07-3/4 overnight.
KCBT December fell 2-1/4 cents to close at $7.31-1/4. In Paris, November milling wheat was up 5.25 euros at 260 euros per tonne, but had backed off after setting an all-time record of 272.00 euros. India may buy up to 300,000 tonnes of wheat, out of 530,000 tonnes offered by international traders in a tender this week, traders said, as New Delhi struggles to replenish stocks.
South Korean millers bought 47,700 tonnes of US wheat. Italy's biggest milling group, Grandi Molini Italiani, said it will raise flour prices by more than 50 percent by the end of this year from June to pass on costs as grain prices soar.
Meanwhile, Russian grain suppliers, wary of possible government intervention this fall, are stepping up immediate wheat shipments in anticipation of export limits and intervention sales as Moscow seeks to curb inflation. First-day deliveries on the Minneapolis September spring wheat contract totalled 349 lots, with the Country Hedging house account issuing all. J.P. Morgan customers stopped 183 lots.