March Wheat finished up 20 at 793 1/4, 2 1/2 off the high and 19 3/4 up from the low. July Wheat closed up 18 1/2 at 846 1/4. This was 16 1/2 up from the low and 1 1/2 off the high. The early rally pushed the market to the highest level since January 6th as food inflationary fears and the potential for unrest in many countries because of food protests have sparked aggressive new buying in wheat. The market stayed strong for much of the session and even put in a new high late in the day. News that Algeria bought 600,000 tonnes of wheat on Monday which pushed purchases to near 1 million tonnes in the past few weeks helped to support the early strong gains. Libya bought near 100,000 tonnes in their tender for 85,000 tonnes and the USDA announced this morning that US exporters sold 145,000 tonnes of hard red winter wheat to Turkey added to the positive tone. While Argentina had a larger wheat crop this season, producers are protesting the tax scheme in Argentina and blocking the shipments of all grain and oilseed for the week. The weak US dollar was also seen as a positive force for the market and traders remain concerned with dryness in the US and China. On top of the strong rally in wheat, March rice futures closed limit-up on the session moving to the highest level since January 4th. Export inspections for wheat this week came in at 21.631 million bushels which was near the low end of expectations. Weekly inspections need to average 30.18 million bushels per week to reach the current USDA projection. March Oats closed up 6 at 398. This was 9 up from the low and 6 off the high.

Bron: CME