CBOT wheat lifts on strong export demand

CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rose on Friday as weekly exports reached their highest in the 2020/2021 marketing year, traders said.

CBOT March soft red winter wheat settled up 9-1/2 cents at $6.06 per bushel.

K.C. March hard red winter wheat ended up 14-3/4 cents at $5.65-1/4 per bushel and MGEX March spring wheat gained 7-3/4 cents to finish at $5.50-3/4 per bushel.

For the week, CBOT's most-active wheat added 6 cents for a second consecutive week of gains.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday morning reported export sales of wheat at 795,800 tonnes for the week ended Nov. 19, well above trade forecasts that ranged from 200,000 to 450,000 tonnes.

Additional pressure was noted from traders liquidating positions ahead of first notice day for deliveries against December futures contracts on Monday, Nov. 30.

Egypt's GASC bought 175,000 tonnes of Russian wheat via a snap tender on Thursday.

South Korean mills purchased an estimated 47,630 tonnes of milling wheat from Australia in a tender, European traders said.

Britain's wheat area is set to rebound for the 2021 harvest to 1.815 million hectares (4.485 million acres), up 28.3% from the 2020 harvest, according to a planting survey issued on Friday.