US Wheat Price Report : Strong Export Competition And Seasonal Harvest Pressure Continue To Weigh Heavily On Markets

• U.S. wheat futures closed mixed this week. Strong export competition and seasonal harvest pressure continue to weigh heavily on markets. Favorable weather condition in the spring wheat belt and improved HRW yields as harvest moves north pushed futures lower. Spillover weakness in corn markets also pressured wheat. Bargain buying after futures hit contract lows supported markets. CBOT September wheat added 6 cents on the week to close at $5.38/bu. KCBT lost 3 cents to $6.31/bu and MGEX dropped 11 cents to $6.20/bu. CBOT September corn fell 8 cents to $3.63/bu and CBOT August soybeans added 36 cents to $12.12/bu.
• HRS basis levels moved significantly higher again this week due to extremely high freight prices and limited rail capacity.
• USDA reported export sales of U.S. wheat in the latest week at 443,163 MMT for 2014/15, in line with trade estimates for 350,000 to 550,000 MMT. Total know outstanding sales and accumulated exports as of July 17 were 8.93 MMT, compared to 12.3 MMT a year ago.
• In its weekly crop progress update, USDA reported the U.S. winter wheat harvest as 75% complete as of July 20, matching the five-year average. USDA rated 70% of the spring wheat crop as good to excellent, unchanged from the previous week.
• The Baltic Panamax Index closed higher this week, up from 586 last Friday to 606.
• The US Dollar Index closed higher this week, up from 80.50 last Friday to 81.05.

Source ; uswheat.org