US wheat futures were hit pretty hard overnight shedding around AUD$8.00 on the nearby soft red wheat contract. Corn and soybeans were also lower. Interesting to note the Platts CME FOB Aussie wheat contract was US$1.50 higher on the March slot at US$284.75 as the closing price, some US$10 above indicated cash offer values. When expanding cash bids to grower in WA to FOB numbers and adding some trade margin it does tend to indicate that the Platts contract is probably closer to where a market will trade than some of the indicated FOB cash offers from international traders, potentially trying to talk their book and prices down.

US futures values were helped lower by a strengthening US dollar. Is the US dollar really getting stronger or are the other majors simply getting weaker is the million dollar question.
The big killer for US wheat futures appeared to be poor weekly US sales. With a poultry 131,200 tonnes sold for last week the market wasn’t taking a chance. The expected uptick in US wheat sales for this quarter due to slower Russian exports is simply not materialising. Week on week US export loadings were also sharply lower.
The US also needs to compete with lower Russian values for milling wheat too. With the ruble falling lower it has allowed Russia to drop export offer values. Reports of milling wheat offered at US$240, indicate values have slipped up to US$12 in one week. With ocean freight rates also falling the big winner out of all this is going to be the buyer.