Good wheat export number but futures close lower

Market Line August 28, 2009 Wheat futures were lower Thursday even though the weekly export sales report showed a marketing year high of 24 million bushels. As of August 20 cumulative sales are at only 32 percent of the USDA forecast, which is under the five year average of 43 percent. Total U.S. white wheat exports are however, running 12 million bushels ahead of a year ago at 29 million bushels.

Louise Gartner for the Linn Group at the Chicago Board of Trade says wheat did bounce near the close.

Gartner: “You know maybe we are carving out a bottom here. Maybe the market is taking into strides the flows from the harvest but it is going to be very difficult to rally this market for long, or sustain a rally, unless we get some more serious problems developing with the spring wheat harvest or if we see production problems developing in Australia, which at this point does not seem to be the case.”

On Thursday Chicago December wheat was down 3 ¾ cents at 5-03.

December corn up three cents at 3-29 ¼. Portland soft white wheat bids for first half of September steady at mostly 4-90. First half September club wheat mostly 7-40. HRW 11.5 % protein for September mostly 5-50. DNS 14% protein mostly 6-25. No Portland barley bids.

Live cattle futures closed higher Thursday with feeder contracts posting losses. Short covering and some cash fed sales at 85 dollars helped live contracts. Feeders saw sell stops triggered and movement from feeder to live contracts. October live cattle up 20 cents at 87-57. October feeders down 50 at 98-97. October Class III milk down 36 cents at 12-75.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network.

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