Wheat falls on global exchanges despite strong import demand

Global wheat futures closed lower on August 6, with losses recorded across the major grain exchanges. September CBOT soft red winter wheat fell 1.7% to $231.94/t, while hard red winter wheat in Kansas City and spring wheat in Minneapolis also posted notable declines. In contrast, corn and soybean futures ended the session modestly higher.

The decline in wheat prices came despite steady export demand. U.S. wheat export sales for the week ended July 30 totaled 296.4 thousand tons, with the Philippines purchasing 87.8 thousand tons, Mexico 68.7 thousand tons, and Vietnam 62 thousand tons. South Korea also bought an additional 36.8 thousand tons of U.S. wheat.

Supportive fundamentals were provided by Algeria’s latest import tender. State grain agency OAIC purchased between 540 and 720 thousand tons of wheat for September–October shipment at $289–290/t C&F, about $25/t higher than the previous tender in June. Meanwhile, Expana lowered its forecast for the EU wheat crop to 126.8 million tons, down 1.5 million tons from its previous estimate.

Corn futures ended the session higher after another strong week of U.S. export sales. New-crop corn sales exceeded 1.03 million tons, with the largest volumes sold to unknown destinations (490.4 thousand tons), Mexico (151.5 thousand tons), and South Korea (151 thousand tons). At the same time, Brazil’s corn exports fell to 1.94 million tons in July, down 21% year-on-year, while August shipments are also expected to remain below last year’s level.

Soybean futures also advanced following reports of fresh Chinese buying. Private exporters announced a sale of 122 thousand tons of new-crop soybeans to China, while market reports indicated Chinese importers purchased ten cargoes of U.S. soybeans during the day. Weekly U.S. new-crop soybean export sales reached 903.9 thousand tons, including 330 thousand tons sold to China and nearly 500 thousand tons to unknown destinations.

European grain markets also finished lower. September milling wheat futures on MATIF declined 1.04% to €219.75/t, while November corn futures fell 1.3% to €241.50/t. Meanwhile, November rapeseed futures on ICE gained 0.38%, and Rotterdam FOB sunflower oil prices remained elevated at around $1,495/t.