(Bloomberg) – Wheat rose for a second day in Chicago on speculation demand will rebound for U.S. supplies after prices reached a seven-month low yesterday. Corn gained after nine sessions of declines.
Wheat plunged 22 percent from a four-year high achieved in July and corn slumped 18 percent from a record as global grain-production prospects improved after the worst U.S. drought since the 1930s hurt crops. Iraq is seeking to import 50,000 metric tons of wheat with bids due by Feb. 17, the Trade Ministry said. Bangladesh, the largest buyer in South Asia, aims to buy 50,000 tons with bidding closing Feb. 28.
“Chicago wheat is now the cheapest,” Michael Pitts, a commodity sales director at National Australia Bank Ltd., said from Sydney today. “That’s going to attract some demand. Demand has still been decent for global wheat generally.”
Wheat for delivery in March added 0.5 percent to $7.3925 a bushel by 6:35 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Yesterday the grain touched $7.225, the lowest since June 25. In Paris, milling wheat for delivery in May rose 0.2 percent to 237.25 euros ($316.25) a ton on NYSE Liffe. The contract was about $1.14 a bushel more expensive than Chicago futures for the same delivery month.
In the week ended Feb. 7, 22.45 million bushels of U.S. wheat were inspected for export, 46 percent more than a week earlier, while corn export inspections more than doubled to 14.46 million bushels, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Corn for delivery in May was 0.3 percent higher at $6.9525 a bushel in Chicago. The contract slid 6.5 percent in the previous nine sessions, the grain’s longest losing streak since December 1980. The USDA on Feb. 8 predicted bigger-than-expected corn and soybean harvests in Brazil and Argentina, where output is rebounding after dry weather last season.
Soybeans for delivery in May fell 0.2 percent to $14.11 a bushel. Yesterday the oilseed touched $13.935, the lowest for a most-active contract since Jan. 14.
