March wheat finished 5 cents lower overnight. The dollar was lower overnight.

March wheat sold off sharply in the early going yesterday, but recovered some of its early losses over the course of the session. Wheat also started lower in the overnight session but held above the October-November lows. Export demand remains firm in wheat with the Philippines buying 74,600 tonnes today. Traders report that low ocean freight rates have made Black Sea origin wheat competitive for buyers in South and East Asia although there have been no announced purchases from this region as of yet. These ideas have been bolstered by indications that some Australian farmers intend to store a larger than usual percentage of their newly harvest crop in anticipation of higher prices in 2009. On the Export Sales Report yesterday, net wheat sales were 511,000 tonnes, all for the current marketing year. This was above trade expectations and soft red sales were strong for the second week in a row at 132,800 tonnes. This compared to 161,600 for hard red winter. Spring wheat sales were also strong. As of November 13, cumulative sales stand at 73.4% of the USDA forecast for 2008/2009 versus a 5 year average of 64.7%. Sales need to average 255,000 tonnes each week to reach the USDA forecast.

The Plains and Midwest are still expected to remain dry today and tomorrow with the exception of snow today in eastern Ohio. Most areas are expected to be dry into Sunday although rain is expected in the SE corn and soybean belt with coverage expanding and moving east into Monday. Forecasts in South America are mainly the same. Dry conditions are starting to cause some concern in Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and stressful dryness persists in central growing areas of Argentina. The Philippines bought 74,600 tonnes of wheat. Bangladesh is tendering for 100,000 tonnes of wheat with a closing date of December 15th.