US Wheat Price Report : Wheat Futures Closed Higher This Week

• Wheat futures closed higher this week on continued political instability in Ukraine, a major wheat exporter. Concerns about dry conditions in the southern U.S. Plains as the winter wheat begins to break dormancy supported markets. Severe logistical issues in Canada continue to support MGEX contracts. The USDA WASDE update failed to provide bullish news and an announcement from India regarding additional export tenders limited gains early in the week. CBOT May wheat added 33 cents to close the week at $6.87/bu. KCBT gained 30 cents to $7.52/bu and MGEX added 29 cents to $7.34/bu. CBOT May corn lost 3 cents to $4.86/bu and CBOT soybeans fell 69 cents to $13.89/bu.
• India’s state-run commodity trading company announced it plans to issue export tenders for up to 500,000 MT in the next month, encouraged by higher global prices and the possibility of tighter supplies in Ukraine.
• USDA released is monthly world agricultural supply and demand estimates (WASDE) update on Monday. USDA left its U.S. estimates unchanged from last month, despite analysts’ expectations for a decrease in U.S. exports due to slowing demand. An 830,000 MT increase in total estimated world production to 713 MMT was offset by an increase of the same amount to total projected consumption (705 MMT). Estimated global ending stocks remained mostly unchanged at 184 MMT.
• According to USDA’s export report, weekly sales of 476,900 MT for delivery during the 2013/2014 marketing year were down 14 percent from the previous week and 2 percent from the prior 4-week average and within trade expectations of 350,000 to 550,000 MT. Total known outstanding sales and accumulated exports of all classes of wheat for the 2013/14 marketing year, through March 6, 2014 were 29.1 MMT, 20 percent greater than last year's year-to-date total of 24.2 MMT. USDA forecasts 2013/14 U.S. wheat exports (including donations) to reach 32.0 MMT.
• The Baltic Panamax Index rose from 1,075 last week to 1,113.
• The US Dollar Index decreased from 79.72 last week to 79.44.

Source : uswheat.org