Wheat Rises to 9-Week High

Chicago Wheat: futures rose to above $11.4 per bushel in May, the highest in 9 weeks and not far from the 14-year high of $12.5 hit in March after the USDA’s world supply and demand report for May fore casted lower supply and ending stocks for the 2022/23 marketing year.

The fresh data pointed to 3% lower supply in the United States, as lower beginning stocks more than offset projections of a larger domestic harvest. Also, exports from the US are projected to total 775 million bushels, the lowest since 1971/1972 marketing year.

Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine is expected to cut the country’s production by 35% yearly to 21.5 million tons. Wheat prices are 34% higher than before the Russian invasion, as interrupted exports from the Black Sea significantly reduced world supply and ending stock projections. Before the invasion, Ukraine and Russia were responsible for 30% of world exports.