March Wheat finished up 10 3/4 at 835 1/4, 4 1/4 off the high and 11 3/4 up from the low. July Wheat closed up 12 at 878 3/4. This was 11 1/2 up from the low and 1 1/2 off the high. March wheat closed sharply higher on the session and July wheat pushed to a new high into the close to move above 880. The market saw early strong gains led by active speculative buying with talk of continued strong short-term export demand. A pick-up in short-term demand is helping to provide a base of support. Unrest and protests due to high food prices continue to spread and the upside may have been limited by talk from French officials that high food prices suggests more regulation may be in order to avoid further food riots. US wheat is competitive on the world market and the tender wire is active especially from North Africa countries for near-term delivery. Lebanon tendered to buy 22,500 tonnes and Algeria tendered to buy 50,000 tonnes of milling wheat. Poor weather in the US and Chine for dormant winter wheat crops has added underlying support to the market. An AP report indicates that the key producing province of Shandong is facing its worse drought in at least 40 years. Drought has hit more than half of the wheat land in the province which would be about 2 1/2 million acres and some areas have not seen rain in four months. The market saw long liquidation selling into the mid-session and a break to slightly lower on the day. Weekly export inspections came in at 23.07 million bushels which was similar to last week and near the low end of trade expectations. Cumulative shipments have reached 55.9% of the USDA forecast for the season as compared with 65.1% as the 5-year average for this time of the year. March Oats closed up 1 at 387. This was 5 1/2 up from the low and 2 off the high.

Bron: CME