The wheat complex spent the Friday session squaring up ahead of the Monday USDA reports. Chicago SRW futures were fractionally lower, with March up 10 ¾ cents this week. KC HRW futures closed with steady action, as March was 15 ¼ cents higher on the week. MPLS spring wheat was down 3 to 4 cents on the day, as that pushed the March contracts down 3 ¼ cents lower on the week.
Export sales data, now updated just January 1 has wheat export commitments of shipped and unshipped sales at 20.228 MMT, 18% above a year ago. That is also 83% of the USDA estimate and in line with the average sales pace. Export shipments are at 15.16 MMT, which is 21% above last year. That is 61% of USDA’s export number and ahead of the 57% average shipping pace.
USDA’s Grain Stocks report will be out on Monday, with a Reuters survey of analysts showing an average guess of 1.636 bbu of wheat on hand as of December 1. The range of estimates is 1.59 to 1.696 bbu.
Now up to date Commitment of Traders data showed managed money increasing their net short in CBT wheat futures and options as of January 6, taking the total to 107,165 contracts. In KC wheat, spec traders were heading the opposite direction, cutting 2,664 contracts from their net short to 15,655 contracts, the smallest since November 2024.
Mar 26 CBOT Wheat closed at $5.17 1/4, down 3/4 cent,
May 26 CBOT Wheat closed at $5.28 3/4, down 1/4 cent,
Mar 26 KCBT Wheat closed at $5.30 1/4, unch,
May 26 KCBT Wheat closed at $5.43, unch,
Mar 26 MIAX Wheat closed at $5.68 1/2, down 3 3/4 cents,
May 26 MIAX Wheat closed at $5.78, down 3 1/2 cents,
On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
