Chicago wheat futures hit lows amid supply surplus

CHICAGO, July 31 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures dropped to contract lows during the session Thursday, as pressure from plentiful supplies continued to weigh on prices, market analysts said.

• CBOT September soft red winter wheat WU25 ended down 1/2 cent at $5.23-1/4 per bushel. Earlier in the session, it set a fresh contract low of $5.16-3/4 a bushel.

• K.C. September hard red winter wheat KWU25 ended up 4-1/4 cents at $5.26-1/4 a bushel.

• Minneapolis September spring wheat MWEU25 settled up 1/2 cent to finish at $5.77-3/4 a bushel. It also set a contract low of $5.74-1/4 a bushel earlier in the session.

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported private sales of 100,000 metric tons of U.S. hard red winter wheat corn to Nigeria for shipment in the 2025/26 marketing year.

• USDA also reported set net weekly U.S. wheat export sales of 592,119 metric tons, landing within a range of trade estimates.

• Ukraine's 2025 grain harvest is likely to fall to 51-52 million metric tons from about 55 million tons in 2024, mostly owing to poor weather, the deputy head of Ukraine's largest farm union said on Thursday.

• The European Commission trimmed its forecast for usable production of both soft wheat and maize (corn) in the European Union in 2025/26.