Wheat Climbs as Slide May Attract Buyers Amid Russia Heat
Category: Grains
(Bloomberg) – Wheat rose on speculation that a recent slide in prices will boost demand from importers and as growing areas in Russia face a heat wave in the next few days that may hurt yields.
Temperatures are forecast to rise above 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in southeast Russia and Kazakhstan by the end of this week, data from World Ag Weather shows. Parts of the region received less than 20 percent of normal rainfall in the past three months.
Wheat for July delivery advanced 0.6 percent to $6.745 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade by 4:37 a.m. local time, rebounding from an earlier 0.6 percent drop. Milling wheat for November delivery traded on Euronext in Paris rose 0.1 percent to 200 euros ($274.10) a metric ton.
“Temperatures in Russia, specifically the Volga district, have soared with certain key growing areas now more than 10 degrees Celsius higher than normal, which has the potential to hurt production potential,” U.K. grains trader Gleadell Agriculture Ltd. wrote in a comment today.
Chicago wheat has dropped 6.6 percent this month as abundant world supply is expected to lift stockpiles even as a Midwest drought cuts U.S. production. World wheat inventories are forecast to rise 0.5 percent to 187.5 million tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted May 9.
Jordan tendered to buy 150,000 tons of wheat, the country’s Trade Ministry said May 16. Egypt bought 60,000 tons of wheat from Ukraine that same day.
“In the export market, the recent downward move observed in grain markets seems favorable for holding new international tenders,” French farm adviser Agritel wrote in a market report. Jordan, Turkey and Algeria are among countries that are seeking to buy wheat, it said.
Wheat production in Turkey, the Middle East’s largest grower of the grain, is expected to slide to 17.3 million tons this year from 22 million tons after dry weather, Dunya newspaper reported, citing a study by the country’s National Grains Council.
Corn rose 0.2 percent to $4.745 a bushel, after earlier dropping to $4.725, the lowest since March 4. Soybeans advanced 0.4 percent to $14.7575 a bushel.
