By Commodity News Service Canada

Winnipeg, Oct. 30 – Minneapolis, Kansas City, and Chicago wheat futures closed slightly weaker on Wednesday, undermined by profit taking following gains seen in recent sessions, industry watchers said. Reports that India is cutting their floor wheat export price to US$260 per tonne from US$300 per tonne were bearish, as it will lead to higher Indian exports, which could slow US exports. Some downward pressure also came from a USDA report that said US winter wheat seeding is 86% complete, up from 79% the previous week.

Prices in US$ per bushel:

CBOT Wheat           Dec     6.7500    dn 0.0625

                     Mar     6.8650    dn 0.0600

MGEX Spring Wheat    Dec     7.3200    dn 0.0450

                     Mar     7.4275    dn 0.0475

KCBT Red Wheat       Dec     7.4775    dn 0.0400

                     Mar     7.4875    dn 0.0400

–   According to Agrocorp International Pte, Indian wheat shipments are expected to increase by 32% to 7 million metric tonnes in the 12 months starting April first due to news that the government cut the floor price for export sales.

–   Lanworth reported that it expects Australia’s 2013/14 wheat production to be 25.294 million tonnes, up from 24.822 million tonnes in last week’s report.

–   Economists are expecting Thursday’s USDA weekly export report to show roughly 1.75 million tonnes of US wheat sales. The report will have three weeks of data due to the 16-day partial shutdown of the US government earlier in the month.