On Monday, U.S. wheat futures declined. The July SRW wheat contract closed at $5.52/bushel ($203/mt; -1.8% compared to Thursday). The July HRW wheat contract in Kansas City fell to $5.64/bushel ($207/mt; -1.1%). The July corn contract closed at $4.90/bushel ($193/mt; -0.1%). No trading was held on Euronext due to the Easter holidays.
The share of U.S. winter wheat rated in good or excellent condition fell to 45% for the week ending April 20, down from 47% the previous week and below market expectations of 47%, according to the USDA.
Corn planting was 12% complete, ahead of the market estimate of 10% and last year’s pace of 11%. Spring wheat planting was 17% complete, compared to a market estimate of 13% and 14% a year ago.
For the week ending April 17, U.S. corn exports totaled 1.70 million metric tons (mmt), slightly above the estimated 1.20–1.66 mmt. Wheat shipments for the same period amounted to 0.51 mmt, also above the expected 0.20–0.45 mmt, according to the USDA.
Between February 15 and April 20, Russia shipped 4.2 mmt of wheat under the export quota, accounting for 39.2% of the total 10.6 mmt quota, according to monitoring data from the Russian Grain Union.