Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures ended firmer on Friday after setting one-week highs earlier in the session on hopes for improving export demand, traders said. The front-month December wheat contract at the CBOT settled up 1 cent at $4.99-3/4 a bushel after reaching its highest price since November 16.
The most actively traded March contracts gained 1/2 cent to $5.07-1/4 a bushel. Earlier the contract touched $5.16, its highest price since November 13. Egypt's state grain buyer, the General Authority for Supply Commodities, said on Thursday it bought 240,000 tonnes of wheat in an international purchasing tender, with half of that coming from the United States. The sale indicated that US wheat has become competitively priced on the global market to certain buyers, after being too expensive, traders said.
It was the second consecutive tender in which Egypt, the world's biggest wheat importer, bought US wheat. However, gains in prices could reduce export demand, said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for INTL FCStone.