Wheat futures closed out the week with big losses. Old-crop KC and MGE futures lost from 6-7 cents while the the CME’s contracts were down 6-7 cents. The CME’s Dec contract closed at $4.26 and it doesn’t look like there’s anything that will stop the contract from testing its low of $4.225 (set Aug 29). If that low is taken out, the next downside target is $4.00. Today’s weakness was attributed to fund selling, progress getting the US winter wheat crop planted, and record global supplies.
In international markets, Turkey’s state grain board tendered for 150,000 MT of milling wheat. Jordan tendered for 100,000 MT. Several Russia consultants or government officials have raised their estimates of Russia wheat exports in recent days. Also,the Ukrainian government announced that they would permit exports of no more than 17 MMT. USDA pegged exports at 16.5 MMT vs last year’s 18.11 MMT. As of the end of October, cumulative wheat exports from the Black Sea Exporters (Russia, Ukraine, and Kazakstan) is projected to be a record 23 MMT, up 2.6 MMT from last year.