BLBG: Wheat Gains a Second Day on Concern Dry Weather in Europe to Hurt Harvests
Wheat climbed for a second day on speculation dry weather may have hurt crops in France, Germany and the U.K., the largest European producers. Corn and soybeans gained amid planting delays in the U.S., the biggest exporter.
Wheat for July delivery advanced as much as 1.2 percent to $8.06 a bushel and traded at $8.0525 a bushel at 12:39 p.m. Seoul time on the Chicago Board of Trade. The grain jumped 74 percent in the past year, advancing to $9.1675 in February, the highest price since 2008.
“Grains are a weather story,” Lee Joon, a senior trader at Woori Futures Co., said by phone today from Seoul. “That’s particularly the case now, with all eyes pinned on weather news. Prices are being supported given corn and soybean plantings are being delayed in the U.S., while there’s drought in Europe.”
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.
The Standard & Poor’s GSCI index of 24 raw materials gained for a third day today after losing 7.3 percent in the month through May 23.
Corn and soybeans gained for a second day on speculation that rain this week in the U.S. Midwest and northern Great Plains may extend delays in plantings in the U.S., the biggest exporter of both crops, threatening to curb crop yields.
U.S. Storms
Storms stretching from Iowa to Ohio may bring as much as 1.5 inches (3.8 centimeters) of rain by May 26, AccuWeather Inc. forecast. North Dakota, the biggest U.S. grower of spring wheat, may get an inch by May 29, according to QT Weather Inc. Planting of the three main crops is behind the normal pace because of excess rain, with some of the biggest delays in Ohio, North Dakota and Indiana.
Corn for July delivery increased 0.7 percent to $7.4725 a bushel. The grain last month reached $7.8875, the highest price since June 2008, and has doubled in the past year.
July-delivery soybeans gained 0.5 percent $13.835 a bushel. The oilseed climbed 47 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
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net
