BLBG:Wheat Gains From Five-Month Low, Corn Advances on Argentine Rain
Wheat rebounded from the lowest price in more than five months as rains delayed harvesting in Argentina, South America’s biggest producer. Corn and soybeans rose as the wet conditions may curb planting.
Wheat for March delivery climbed as much as 0.7 percent to $7.78 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and was at $7.765 at 10:20 a.m. in Singapore. Futures dropped to $7.645 yesterday, the lowest level since July 2. Prices are down 10 percent this month, trimming this year’s advance to 19 percent.
One million hectares (2.5 million acres) were affected by excessive rain, delaying wheat harvesting by 11 percent and corn planting by 5 percent compared with the previous season, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said yesterday. Argentina was the world’s sixth-biggest wheat exporter last year and is poised to overtake Brazil as the second-biggest corn shipper in 2012-2013, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The rain “has been a little bit of concern for soybeans not being able to get planted and also for wheat, it will downgrade some of that,” said Michael Pitts, a commodity sales director at National Australia Bank Ltd. Still, rain may improve conditions for crops in some parts of the country, he said.
Wheat is the best performer on the Standard & Poor’s GSCI Index of 24 commodities this year after drought in the U.S. and Europe and dry weather in Australia parched crops.
Corn for March delivery gained as much as 0.4 percent to $6.94 a bushel before trading at $6.93. Prices have dropped 7.9 percent this month, reducing the annual gain to 7.2 percent.
Soybeans for March delivery climbed as much as 0.8 percent to $14.255 a bushel and were at $14.245. Prices, down 1 percent in December, have surged 18 percent this year.
To contact the reporter on this story: Phoebe Sedgman in Melbourne at psedgman2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jake Lloyd-Smith at jlloydsmith@bloomberg.net