BLBG: Wheat Gains Near to Two-Month High as U.S. Crop Ratings Worsen
Wheat advanced to near a two-month high as a U.S. government report showed the winter crop was in worse shape than a year earlier after drought. Soybeans also rose, while corn declined.
About 43 percent of the winter wheat was in good or excellent condition as of April 5, compared with 45 percent a year earlier, the Department of Agriculture said yesterday. About 22 percent was rated poor or very poor, up from 21 percent a year ago. This was the first national report on the condition of the crop that farmers will start harvesting in late May.
“The weekly crop rating report provided support to the wheat market,” said Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker Okachi & Co.
May-delivery wheat added 0.5 percent to $5.595 a bushel in electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade at 3:07 p.m. in Singapore. The grain slumped 1.2 percent yesterday after touching $5.7275, the highest since Feb. 9.
Parts of western Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Colorado and Nebraska have received less than 50 percent of normal rain in the past 90 days, according to the High Plain Regional Climate Center at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. East of the Mississippi River, some fields from Arkansas to Ohio have received twice the normal precipitation in the past month.
Expectations of further damage to the U.S. winter crops from freezing weather helped boost prices by 11 percent last week, the most since February 2008. The U.S. is the world’s biggest wheat exporter.
Corn Slumps
In other markets, a rally in crude oil prices trimmed early losses in corn and helped soybeans rebound to near to the highest in almost two months. Gains in oil boost demand prospects for the crops as a source for biofuel.
Corn for May delivery was 0.3 percent lower at $4.045 a bushel at 2:55 p.m. Singapore time after dipping to $4.03. The price on April 2 reached $4.075, the highest since Jan. 12. The contract rose 4.5 percent last week, the fifth gain in six weeks.
Soybeans for May delivery gained 1.1 percent to $10.05 a bushel. The contract touched $10.09 yesterday, the highest since Feb. 10, and last week gained 8.6 percent, the third gain in four weeks.
The oilseed fell yesterday amid speculation that cold, wet weather will increase an expected shift by U.S. farmers toward planting less corn and more soybeans, which can be sown later in the year without yield losses.
Crude oil for May delivery on the New York Mercantile Exchange rose as much as 1.1 percent to $51.60 a barrel and was at $51.43 at 2:52 p.m. Singapore time. The contract dropped 2.8 percent yesterday.
