Wheat Lower in Early Monday Trade

All three wheat markets are lower this morning, led by 10 to 12 cent losses in KC HRW.  Chicago SRW futures are down 7 ½ to 14 ½.  MPLS spring wheat is down 6 ½ to 12 ½. CBT SRW contracts closed with 4 1/2 to 6 3/4 cent losses on Friday. Preliminary OI shows rolling of long liquidation in September and net new selling in December.  July ’23 was only a fraction in the red. KC HRW went home 9 to 12 cents lower on Friday. Spring wheat prices closed down by 7 3/4 to 13 cents on the day. 

Weekly CFTC data showed the funds were extending their net short in SRW through the week that ended 8/2. Managed money opened 9.2k new shorts through the week and opened 4.7k new longs, for a net 14,970 contract short position as a group. In KC wheat, the CoT report showed managed money firms were 9,992 contracts net long, compared to 11,041 last week. Spring wheat spec traders were closing more longs than shorts through the week of 8/2, and flipped net short for the first time since 10/13 of 2020. Their net short was reported at 652 contracts. 

Harvest in Ukraine is underway, with 17.5 MMT of grain reportedly reaped so far - mostly barely and rapeseed. The farmers union expects total grain harvest for the season to reach 65-67 MMT compared to last year’s 86 MMT grains harvest. 

Sep 22 CBOT Wheat  closed at $7.75 3/4, down 6 3/4 cents,

Dec 22 CBOT Wheat  closed at $7.95 1/4, down 6 3/4 cents,

Cash SRW Wheat  was $7.23 ½ on Friday, down 6 3/8 cents,

Sep 22 KCBT Wheat  closed at $8.48 1/4, down 12 cents,

Cash HRW Wheat  was $8.02 5/8 on Friday, down 12 cents,

Sep 22 MGEX Wheat  closed at $8.86 1/2, down 7 3/4 cents,