Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed sharply lower on Thursday on pressure from broad-based commodities liquidation and a firm dollar as global investors move money to cash on concerns about tepid economic growth. USDA said export sales of US wheat last week totaled 549,600 tonnes, above estimates for 250,000 to 450,000 tonnes.
Crop scouts on the annual tour of Kansas wheat fields said wheat yields across southern Kansas were expected to fall 16 percent below last year to 33.4 bushels per acre (year ago estimate from tour was 39.9 bushels) and production could drop even further if conditions remain dry during the next few weeks.
Russia, hit by severe drought last summer, will see a "huge" recovery in grain crops this year as will its neighbour Ukraine, a senior economist and grain analyst at the UN's Food and Agriculure Organisation said on Thursday. Dry weather continues to stress the jointing and heading wheat crop in the south-west portion of the US Plains while wet weather is slowing seeding of the spring wheat crop in the US Northern Plains. Dryness also a concern in North China Plain and in West Europe but there are some outlooks for light showers over the next week.
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