Wheat prices on the US stock exchanges were mixed on Thursday. While winter wheat futures in Chicago (SRW) and Kansas City (HRW) rose slightly, spring wheat in Minneapolis recorded slight losses. The HRW in Kansas rose by 5 US cents to 528.50 US cents/bushel for the month of September and spring wheat fell by 2.50 US cents to 586.50 US cents/bushel for the same month.
A significant increase in US export sales had a supporting effect: according to the USDA, these reached a record high of 712,179 tons in the week ending 17 July. This represents an increase of 44% on the previous week and more than double the previous year's figure. Analysts' expectations were exceeded by more than 200,000 tons. The most important buyers were Indonesia, Taiwan and Mexico.
The result of the latest early wheat harvest tour, in which the yield estimate for North Dakota was 49.0 bushel/acre, below the previous year's figure but above the five-year average, led to slight profit-taking on spring wheat in Minneapolis.
In Paris on Euronext, wheat fell by €2.50 for September. It closed at € 197.00 per tonne.
