Wheat rose for the first day in five in Chicago on speculation dry weather may have caused irreparable harm to crops in France, Germany and the U.K., the largest European producers.
Dry weather may cut U.K. grain and oilseed yields by as much as 20 percent, Allan Wilkinson, head of agriculture for HSBC Bank, said in an interview on May 23. Drought in France and Germany also will curb production and cause food costs at retail outlets to surge, he said.
“There are still concerns that the long drought could have caused irreversible damage to crops,” said Carsten Fritsch, an analyst at Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “Estimates indicate losses on a scale of 7 percent to 12 percent for the wheat crop in France and Germany.”
Wheat for July delivery rose 4.5 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $7.8425 a bushel by 1:15 p.m. London time on the Chicago Board of Trade. The grain jumped 70 percent in the past year and in February reached $9.1675, the highest price since 2008.
Milling wheat for November delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris advanced 2.50 euros, or 1 percent, to 243.50 euros ($342.26) a metric ton.
Corn and soybeans gained for the first day in three in Chicago as plantings in the U.S., the biggest exporter of both crops, lagged behind the pace of recent years after wet weather delayed fieldwork.
Below Average
About 79 percent of the U.S. corn crop was planted as of May 22, the Department of Agriculture said in a report on May 23. That compares with 92 percent a year earlier and the average of 87 percent over the previous five years. Soybean planting was 41 percent complete, down from a five-year average of 51 percent, the report showed.
“The weather concern is still around, buoying corn prices,” said Han Sung Min, a trader with Korea Exchange Bank Futures Co. in Seoul. “If plantings don’t progress smoothly because of rains, it will negatively affect crop conditions.”
Corn for July delivery gained 4.75 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $7.38 a bushel. The grain last month reached $7.8875, the highest price since June 2008, and more than doubled in the past year.
July-delivery soybeans increased 6 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $13.7825 a bushel. The oilseed climbed 48 percent in the past year, helped by demand from China, the world’s biggest soybean importer.
To contact the reporters on this story: Sungwoo Park in Seoul at spark47@bloomberg.net; Tony C. Dreibus in London at tdreibus@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net
