May Wheat finished down 19 at 1014, 38 off the high and 14 up from the low. July Wheat closed down 15 at 1017 1/2. This was 15 up from the low and 34 1/2 off the high.

May wheat opened higher this morning based on a larger than expected sale of soft red wheat to Egypt. The market eroded throughout the morning, however, before firming slightly into the close but still closing moderately lower. May wheat futures in Paris fell more than 4% on Thursday after the weaker open in Chicago. This would correlate to a drop of over 42 cents in the Chicago May contract. Soft red wheat bids at the Gulf were unchanged for March through May this morning with more deferred summer months up 5-10 cents. Egypt's GASC bought a total of 180,000 tonnes of US soft red (Chicago) wheat today continuing a late surge in demand for soft red. This added to a firmer tone at the Gulf. The EU cleared 251,000 tonnes of soft wheat for export this week which brings the total cleared so far this year to 5.7 million tonnes. Price limits will be increased in soybeans, soy oil and corn tomorrow, but will remain at 90 cents for wheat. Weekly export sales for wheat came in at 562,800 tonnes which was in line with trade expectations. Old crop sales reached 379,900 tonnes as compared with 68,900 tonnes necessary each week to reach the USDA projection. Cumulative sales have already reached 97.9% of the USDA forecast for the season as compared with 89.4% as the 5-year average sold for this time of the year. For the second week in a row, sales of soft red Chicago wheat were higher than hard red KC at 121,700 and 115,500 tonnes respectively. New crop sales were also higher for Chicago wheat than for KC wheat.

May Oats closed down 3/4 at 343 1/2. This was 1/2 up from the low and 2 off the high.