Technical sales and the prospect of cooler temperatures and rain in North America over the next 10 days caused a sharp decline in wheat futures yesterday. The USDA announced on Tuesday that 38% of US winter wheat stocks are in top condition. Analysts expected an unchanged share of 36%. Summer wheat has been sown to 91% of planned land. The 5-year average is 89%. Meanwhile, in parts of Oklahoma, the HRW wheat harvest has started. Institutional investors yesterday sold 9,000 lots of CBoT SRW wheat. The eCBoT is moderately weak this morning. At Euronext in Paris, wheat futures followed the negative overseas guidance and posted heavy losses on all dates. Additional pressure was provided by the firmer exchange rate of the euro. The December 18 maturity lost 2.9% in value and dropped to a 1-week low, after trading at € 190.50 / ton on Tuesday, the highest since 12 July 17. At the cash market in Hamburg, the quotes for wheat with 12% protein fell from € 17 to € 18 under Paris Dec. 18. The willingness of farmers in northern and eastern Germany to sell the old crop has fallen sharply.In the export regions in southern Russia, it is still too dry after only a small amount of rainfall.
