Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat futures exploded to a six-month high on Friday due to threats to global production and as fund scrambled to cover their short positions in the post-holiday market, traders said.
Wheat futures rose on a mix of technical and emerging bullish fundamentals, including rising cash values for US and Russian supplies, wet weather in Europe and Australia, and fears of a decline in US acreage, traders said.
CBOT December soft red winter wheat settled up 19 cents at $5.47-1/2 per bushel, the highest since June 28.
Meanwhile, the most-actively traded contract, March soft red winter wheat, ended up 15 cents at $5.41-3/4 per bushel - the highest since July 15.
K.C. December hard red winter wheat finished up 12 cents at $4.38-3/4 a bushel, and March settled up 9-1/2 cents at $4.47.
MGEX December spring wheat closed up 6 cents at $4.94-1/2, while March ended up 6-1/2 cents at $5.15.
There were no deliveries against the CBOT's December wheat contract on first notice day on Friday. Traders expected deliveries of zero to 400 contracts, with most anticipating none.
The USDA reported weekly US wheat export sales of 612,700 tonnes for the period of Nov. 15-21. This was slightly above analysts' estimates for 300,000 to 600,000 tonnes.