BLBG: Wheat Climbs Most in 2 Weeks as U.S. Conditions Decline
Wheat advanced the most in two weeks on speculation that an eight-day slump may spur purchases from some investors and after a U.S. government report showed crop conditions deteriorated in the world’s biggest exporter.
The contract for July delivery rose as much as 1.2 percent to $6.825 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, the biggest intraday increase since May 6, and was at $6.82 by 1:53 p.m. in Singapore. Prices rose less than 0.1 percent yesterday, halting the longest run of losses since July.
About 44 percent of the U.S. winter crop was in poor or very poor condition as of May 18, up from 42 percent a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. Drought continues to stress winter wheat in the southern Plains and rain has avoided the driest areas of the southern High Plains, WeatherBELL Analytics LLC said in a report yesterday. Domestic output will drop 7.8 percent to 53.4 million tons in 2014-2015, the lowest in eight years, the USDA said May 9.
“Wheat may find support at these levels,” Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. analyst Paul Deane said by phone from Melbourne today. “Generally the rain was viewed as stabilizing parts of the U.S. wheat crop that were viewed as a concern, so it helped in that regard but may not improve yields.”
Much more rain is needed to significantly ease long-term moisture shortages in the Plains, MDA Information Systems LLC said in a report yesterday. Rain forecast for some areas this week will be too late to significantly improve yields, it said.
Corn for July delivery rose 0.6 percent to $4.80 a bushel. Prices dropped to $4.7625 yesterday, the lowest since March 31. Soybeans advanced 0.1 percent to $14.8725 a bushel.
To contact the reporter on this story: Phoebe Sedgman in Melbourne at psedgman2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net Ovais Subhani
