Forexpros – Wheat futures declined on Wednesday, as favorable weather conditions in key wheat growing regions in the U.S. and in Russia were likely to benefit crops, while expectations for record wheat exports from Australia further weighed.
On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, wheat futures for May delivery traded at USD6.5112 a bushel during European morning trade, dropping 0.92%.
It earlier fell by as much as 1.05% to trade at a session low of USD6.5088 a bushel.
Wheat prices came under additional pressure from a broadly stronger U.S. dollar, after minutes released Tuesday from the March meeting of the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee indicated that the central bank was unlikely to introduce more stimulus measures to help boost the U.S. economy in the near term.
Stock markets, commodities and growth-linked currencies all fell after the minutes were released, while the dollar spiked higher, as markets interpreted the comments as meaning the Fed was less likely to purchase new securities.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback against a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.3% to trade at 79.79, the highest since March 26.
Meanwhile, wheat traders continued to monitor weather conditions in key wheat growing regions in the U.S., which could potentially benefit the developing winter wheat crop.
According to industry weather group Telvent DTN, showers were expected across most parts of the central and southern plains in the U.S. in the coming days.
The weather group added that rainfall was also expected in key winter-wheat areas in Russia and Ukraine, which was expected to help maintain soil moisture.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics said earlier that Australian wheat exports recorded their best month since 2003 in February, shipping 2.4 million tonnes of the grain, up 13% from January and 32% higher than a year earlier.
The figure took total Australian wheat exports to 9.52 million tonnes in the current marketing season, keeping them on track for a record on the season.
Australia’s official commodities bureau, Abares, has forecast 2011-12 shipments hitting an all-time high of 21.2 million tonnes.
An upbeat export outlook for the Pacific nation could result in reduced demand for U.S. supplies.
The U.S. is the largest wheat exporter, followed by Australia and Russia, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data released March 9.
Elsewhere on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, corn for May delivery eased up 0.3% to trade at USD6.6063 a bushel, while soybeans for May delivery dipped 0.25% to trade at USD14.1375 a bushel.
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