CBOT wheat up on global supply worries, positioning ahead of weekend
Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures firmed on Friday as traders covered short positions ahead of the weekend and as worries about tighter global supplies underpinned the market.
Disruptions to Ukrainian grain shipments due to Russian attacks on ports and other infrastructure has underpinned wheat prices this week, even as exports of Russian have actively flowed.
Reduced wheat crops due to dry weather in Australia and Argentina also kept a floor under prices.
CBOT December soft red winter wheat WZ3 settled 10-1/2 cents higher at $6.04-1/4 a bushel. The benchmark contract gained 1.4% this week, its strongest weekly gain in seven weeks.
K.C. hard red winter wheat for December delivery KWZ3 settled 10 cents higher at $7.46-1/2 a bushel. MGEX December spring wheat was up 5-1/2 cents at $7.89 a bushel.
Poland, Slovakia and Hungary will implement their own restrictions on Ukrainian grain imports, the governments said on Friday, after the European Commission decided not to extend a ban affecting Ukraine’s five EU neighbours.
Romania’s plan to double the monthly transit capacity for Ukrainian grain through its Constanta port to four million metric tons in the coming months remains achievable, the country’s Transport Minister Sorin Grindeanu said on Friday.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Karl Plume in Chicago, Editing by Nick Zieminski)
