BLBG:Wheat Gains for Third Day as Dryness in U.S. May Curb Winter-Crop Seeding
Wheat rose for a third day in Chicago on speculation hot, dry weather in the U.S. Plains may curb seeding of winter varieties and on concern adverse weather in Russia and Ukraine might hurt crops.
Dry weather in the U.S. cut soil moisture for winter-wheat areas of the southern Plains this week, Telvent DTN Inc. said in a forecast yesterday. A dry spell in Russia is threatening spring wheat, corn and sunflowers in the Volga Valley, where the worst drought in 50 years caused crop losses in 2010, the forecaster said.
“There’s some uncertainty about winter-wheat acreage,” said Kieran Walsh, a broker at GFI Group Inc. in London. “There are some minor quality concerns with the Ukrainian and Russian crops. It’s a mixed picture on yields across the EU.”
Wheat for December delivery gained 4 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $7.56 a bushel by 10:48 a.m. London time on the Chicago Board of Trade. The grain reached $7.60, the highest level since Aug. 3, after climbing for a third week last week.
Much of Texas, western Oklahoma and southwest Kansas are suffering from “exceptional” drought, the most severe rating given by the University of Nebraska at Lincoln’s U.S. Drought Monitor. Sowing of hard, red winter-wheat, grown in the Great Plains and used to make bread, usually begins in September and is the largest variety of the grain grown in the U.S.
“Hotter, drier weather is the main concern for the U.S. winter-wheat crop,” said Han Sung Min, a broker at Korea Exchange Bank Futures Co. in Seoul. “If drought persists, we may see a drop in planting acres for the U.S. crop.”
Milling Wheat
Milling wheat for November delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris added 1.25 euros, or 0.6 percent, to 200.25 euros ($289.10) a metric ton.
Corn for December delivery was little changed at $7.2775 a bushel in Chicago after advancing 1 percent yesterday. Soybeans for November delivery also were little changed at $13.5025 a bushel.
Corn output this year will total 12.914 billion bushels, compared with 13.47 billion projected in July and 12.447 billion harvested in 2010, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said last week. Inventories will total 714 million bushels when the next marketing year ends on Aug. 31, 2012, compared with 870 million forecast in July and 940 million expected this year, it said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net; Tony C. Dreibus in London at tdreibus@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Richard Dobson at rdobson4@bloomberg.net
