Wheat Prices Edge Up From 5 And 1/2 Year Lows

 | Jan 11, 2016 06:39AM ET

Awaiting monthly report from US Agricultural Department

Wheat prices are edging up from the 5 and 1/2 year lows. Previously they lost 10% from mid-December amid favorable weather and stricter import regulations of grain to Egypt. Last week the weather has turned nasty, which caused the massive closure of the shorts. For the last week of 2015, the volume of shorts closed up almost 40%, according to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Will the wheat prices continue rising?

Market participants have opened many shorts in wheat hoping for the continued spell of fine weather in the United States but it did not happen. The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has revised downwards the winter wheat seedlings rated in “good and excellent” condition in Illinois on December 31 to 58% from 67% on November 29. Nine people died in flood in Illinois. The depreciated seedlings quality triggered the shorts closure and the further wheat prices growth. Now investors expect the report on global wheat market and the US stockpiles which are to be published on December 12, 2016 at 18:00 CET. Besides wheat the report will cover the corn, soybeans, cotton and rice markets. As follows from the consensus forecast, US wheat stockpiles on December 1 are estimated at 1.698 bn bushels. Investors do not expect the dramatic contraction of world wheat stockpiles by the end of 2015/16 season. They estimate them at 229.6mln tonnes while USDA estimated them at 22.86mln tonnes in its report last month.