Pre-Opening Wheat Market Report for 6/15/2010

December wheat was 1 cent lower overnight. The dollar index started higher and then slipped to slightly lower overnight.

The wheat market continues to struggle higher off of last week’s contract lows in both the July and December contracts. This comes as the winter wheat harvest advances despite unwelcome rains in the Plains and the Midwest. The weekly Winter Wheat Harvest was 9% complete as of Sunday compared to 3% last week and 7% last year. The 10 year average for this time of year is 15%. The highest percent complete was 26% in 2006 while the lowest was 4% in 1997.

The hard red winter harvest is farthest along in Oklahoma and Texas with the soft red winter harvest farthest along in Arkansas and North Carolina. Harvest for soft red has started in Illinois and Missouri, but it has not started in Ohio as of yet. Ohio is the biggest producer of soft red wheat. Winter Wheat Conditions were rated 66% good/excellent compared to 66% last week and 44% last year. The 10 year average for this time of year is 44%. The highest percent rated good/excellent was 70% in 1999.

Spring Wheat is rated 86% good/excellent, just below the all-time high of 87% in 1986. The 10 year average for this time of year is 71%. Government media in Syria report report that the country will need to import wheat for the third year in a row in 2010 due to an ongoing drought. The government expects to buy 2.4 million tonnes from the country’s farmers this year compared to 2.8 million last year. UK wheat imports rose in April to 277,737 tonnes from 257,515 in March, although the April total is down from last year. Saudi Arabia’s agriculture minister said today that his country’s 2010 wheat imports should hold steady at 2 million tonnes. South Korea bought 55,000 tonnes of feed wheat.

Weekly export inspections came in at 14.040 million bushel as compared with 17.3 million bushels needed each week to reach the USDA’s projection