Egypt out of wheat market for a while

Market Line December 22, 2009 Wheat futures posted modest losses Monday. Terry Linn with the Linn Group at the Chicago Board of Trade says it was holiday type trading.

Linn: “The trade is very quite and volume is thin with participation lighter than normal into the holiday shortened week and little news to give the markets direction.”

A strong dollar during the session was pointed to as putting some pressure on wheat.

Egyptian officials said over this past weekend that the country had more than five months of wheat on hand and so wouldn’t be in the market in the near term. The officials also said they are considering a long term wheat trading deal with Russia.

On Monday Chicago March wheat was down 8 ½ cents at 5-19 1/2.

March corn up 2 ¼ at $4.00 Portland soft white wheat steady to a dime lower at mostly 4-80. Club wheat premium $3.50. Only new crop bids at Portland for red wheats with August hard red winter wheat 11.5 % protein lower at 5-72 to 5-77 and August DNS 14% protein lower at 6-37 to 6-40. No Portland barley bids.

Live cattle futures were higher Monday with feeders lower. The friendly Cattle on Feed report helped live cattle as did last Friday’s cash prices on fat cattle. Higher corn and profit taking were cited for feeder contracts.

Feb live cattle up 72 cents at 85-57. January feeders down 17 at 94-55.

January Class III milk down a nickel at 14-71.

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

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