Wheat futures closed higher again on Thursday, while corn gained, and soybeans ended mixed.
Buoyed this week by concerns about expanding dryness for winter wheat crops in the US southern Plains and southern Russia, the wheat market posted further gains today even as rain is in the forecast for the Plains. However, the moisture is forecast to come amid an outbreak of severe weather that is expected to bring high winds and heavy downpours that could also be damaging. The USDA’s weekly export sales report this morning showed bookings of US new-crop wheat for the week ended April 18 at 371,853 tonnes, on the high end of pre-report trade guesses. Old-crop bookings of just over 82,000 tonnes were a four-week high. May Chicago wheat gained 7 ¾ cents to $6.02 ¼, May Kansas City added 7 ¾ cents to $6.32, and May Minneapolis climbed 12 cents to $6.91.
Corn trucked higher with the gains in wheat, along with a positive export sales report. Bookings of US corn for the week ended April 18 amounted to 1.3 million tonnes, the highest in 10 weeks and above pre-report expectations. May corn was up 3 ¼ cents at $4.41, and December closed 3 ½ cents higher at $4.76 ¼.
Soybeans were pressured by a disappointing export sales report, but some support still spilled over from the gains in wheat. Old-crop bookings of 210,899 tonnes were a three-week low and below trade estimates. New-crop bookings of 120,060 tonnes were less than half of the previous week and on the low side of trade guesses. May beans lost 3 ¼ cents to $11.62 ¾, but November gained a penny to $11.75 ½.
