July wheat was 1 1/2 cents higher late in the overnight session. The dollar was lower again. Today was First Notice Day for the May wheat futures contract and deliveries totaled 1,501 contracts.

The July wheat contract staged a sharp rally to start the day yesterday, although prices remained well within the broad trading range seen in the July contract on Monday. Traders said that the strength was based on catch-up short covering in wheat following the sharp gains seen in corn this week.

However, wheat has not seen the sort of shift to stronger demand that corn has seen this week and on recent Export Sales reports. In fact, this week’s export sales in wheat again fell below the average needed each week to meet the USDA’s export projection for the 2009/10 crop marketing year. Net sales came in at 173,100 tonnes for the current year and 295,300 for next year for a total of 468,400. As of April 22, cumulative wheat sales stand at 92.9% of the USDA forecast for 2009/2010 versus a 5 year average of 96.0%. Old crop sales need to average 292,000 tonnes each week to reach the USDA forecast.

Morocco’s Agriculture Minister said yesterday that his country is likely to import near 3.6 million tonnes of soft wheat this year. He added that Morocco plans to lease 30,000 hectares of land in order to stimulate production and investment in grain production. However, the country does not plan to sell any land.

The wheat market was the leader to the upside among the grains yesterday, with the July contract rallying sharply from the opening bell of the day session through mid morning. The market then eased into early afternoon before falling more steeply prior to the close. Traders reported buying by funds along with active spreading between wheat and corn and to a lesser extend between wheat and soybeans. A lower dollar overnight was said to bring added support. The lower dollar counters concerns earlier this week that a falling Euro due to the debt national crises there would make European soft wheat even more competitive against US wheat on the world market. The Buenos Aires exchange believes that Argentina wheat plantings for the 2010/11 season could reach 4.2 million hectares, up 26% from last year.
Bron:CME