New crop wheat ending stocks seen growing

Market Line April 23, 2010 Wheat futures put in 10 to 13 cent gains Thursday. Lynn Smith with the Zaner Group at the Chicago Board of Trade didn’t see anything fundamentally to warrant a rally and believes it was technicals and short covering at work. And when it comes to the funds?

Smith: “As you know they have been heavily short the wheat market for some time and we may have quite a ways to go if they decide to cash in further on some of these shorts as they have some pretty good sized profits here.”

The International Grain Council believes that world wheat production for the 2010/11 season will drop by 17 million tonnes to 658 million but that ending stocks will still increase because world usage is pegged at 654 million tonnes. Informa Economics pegs this year’s U.S. wheat crop down eight percent with ending stocks topping one billion bushels.

On Thursday Chicago May wheat was up 11 ¼ cents at 4-98 ½. May corn up three cents at 3-62 ¼. Portland soft white wheat was steady to lower at mostly 4-82. New crop August soft white steady to down a nickel at 4-85. Club wheat premium $2. HRW 11.5 % protein eight to 11 cents higher at mostly 5-52. DNS 14% protein up eight to nine cents at 6-94. No Portland barley bids.

Cattle futures were mixed on Thursday. There were ideas cash fed cattle will trade firm this week and traders were also positioning for this afternoon’s USDA Cattle on Feed report. June live cattle up 15 cents at 95-60. May feeders down 17 cents at 112-77. May Class III milk down 11 cents at 13-17.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Market Line on Northwest Aginfo Net.

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