Corn climbed for a third day on concern that wet weather will delay planting in the U.S. Midwest. Soybeans and wheat also advanced. The July-delivery contract jumped as much as 2.6 percent to $6.995 a bushel in Chicago before trading at $6.9525 at 2:08 p.m. Tokyo time. The grain fell 0.6 percent last week, touching the lowest price in almost two months on May 12. “After wet weather during the weekend, there’s forecasts for more rainfall this week in the U.S. Midwest,” said Toshimitsu Kawanabe, an analyst at broker Central Shoji Co. “We may see another delay in U.S. corn planting in a weekly crops- planting report later today.” Sixteen of 23 traders and analysts surveyed from Tokyo to Chicago on May 13 said corn will rise this week, and 16 of 24 respondents forecast a gain for soybeans. The U.S. Northeast “will continue to receive daily rounds of rain through at least Friday,” according to a forecast yesterday from AccuWeather Inc. “The same can be said for the Carolinas and upper Ohio Valley. More rain will wet other parts of the Midwest, but not quite on a persistent basis.” About 40 percent of the U.S. corn crop, the world’s biggest, was planted as of May 8, up from 13 percent a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said May 9 in a report. The pace of sowing was behind last year’s 80 percent and the previous five-year average of 59 percent. About 22 percent of the spring-wheat crop was seeded, compared with 10 percent a week earlier, 65 percent a year earlier and an average 61 percent for the past five years, the USDA said. Soybean planting was 7 percent complete, compared with 28 percent last year and the five-year average of 17 percent. Soybeans Gain Soybeans for July delivery climbed 0.5 percent to $13.3625 a bushel in Chicago. July-delivery wheat added as much as 2.7 percent to $7.4725 per bushel and last traded at $7.4375. The most-active contract declined 4.2 percent last week, the third straight weekly drop. Wheat exports from Australia, the fourth-largest shipper, dropped for the first time in four months in March, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Shipments fell 5.6 percent to 1.7 million tons, the first decline since November, the agency said on its website today. Australia exported 1.8 million tons in February, it said last month. Wheat output may reach a record 26.3 million tons this season, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural & Resource Economics & Sciences said in March. Wet weather in eastern Australia cut the quality of some crops to feed-grade even as rain boosted yields. To contact the reporter on this story: Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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