The wheat complex was in rally mode across the three exchanges on Friday, led by the winter wheat contracts. Chicago SRW futures were 12 to 14 cents in the green at the close, with March up 11 ½ cents this week. KC HRW futures were up 14 to 15 cents, taking March 13 ½ cents higher on the week. MPLS spring wheat was up 1 to 2 cents and lagging behind, but still with a dime gain this week.
Freezing temps and very little snow cover in parts of HRW country may be adding some premium ahead of the weekend.
USDA Export Sales data was delayed until this morning, with 618,076 MT of wheat sold in the week ending on January 15. That was a 9-week high and more than triple the same week last year. The largest buyer was unknown destinations of 130,600 MT, with 115,900 MT sold to Mexico and 95,500 MT to South Korea.
Commitment of Traders data from CFTC this afternoon showed managed money adding another 4,471 contracts to their net short position as of January 20. That net short stood at 110,700 contracts for CBT wheat on Tuesday. In KC wheat, specs were net short just 13,018 contracts by Tuesday, an addition of just 237 contracts on the week.
Mar 26 CBOT Wheat closed at $5.29 1/2, up 14 cents,
May 26 CBOT Wheat closed at $5.39, up 12 1/2 cents,
Mar 26 KCBT Wheat closed at $5.40 3/4, up 15 cents,
May 26 KCBT Wheat closed at $5.50 1/2, up 14 1/2 cents,
Mar 26 MIAX Wheat closed at $5.75, up 1 1/4 cents,
May 26 MIAX Wheat closed at $5.87 3/4, up 1 1/2 cents,
