Slight lift in local wheat futures

Australian wheat futures lifted slightly late last week. Here’s what the market is doing.

Price lift: January ’21 ASX east wheat prices lifted $1, from $275 a tonne on Thursday to close on Friday at $276.

WHEAT  future  prices  regained some of their lost ground recently, a market report has found.

According to a Commonwealth Bank market report, January ’21 ASX east wheat prices lifted $1, from $275 a tonne on Thursday to close on Friday at $276. This is compared to $274 a tonne at the same time last week.

At this time last month, prices were up at $293 a tonne.

A weaker Australian dollar late last week, paired with higher global prices is also creating competitiveness in some markets, Commonwealth Bank market analyst Tobin Gorey said.

“Australian wheat is notionally looking very competitive through Asia, pre‑trade, today,” he said.

“Higher global prices, and a weaker Australian Dollar, on Friday night, combined to create that competitiveness.”

Mr Gorey said on Monday, he expected Australian prices to gain a few dollars in initial trading.

Globally, wheat futures prices saw “sharpish gains” across the three main futures markets on Friday, Mr Gorey said.

As of Friday, Chicago Board of Trade December ’20 wheat prices were at US535 cents a bushel, in comparison to US510 cents a bushel at the same time last week.

Mr Gorey said US prices had fallen down the “competitive pecking order” in relation to Russia.

Meanwhile for cotton futures, the market held onto gains made on Thursday.

As of Friday ICE December prices closed at $449 a bale.

This is compared to $438 a bale at this time last week.

However, Mr Gorey said the cotton market was watching Tropical Storm Laura — which is moving towards the United States.

“Weather forecasters project that Laura’s path is unlikely to be a major issue for cotton — for now,” Mr Gorey said. “The storm though can still shift westward and present a greater threat, mainly via heavy rain, to some Texas cotton crops.”

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