(Bloomberg) – Wheat advanced for a second day on concern that persistent dryness and freezing temperatures will further damage drought-hit crops in some of the biggest growing regions in the U.S., the world’s largest exporter.
Wheat for delivery in July rose as much as 0.4 percent to $7.1025 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and was at $7.0975 by 9:34 a.m. in Singapore on volume that was 33 percent below the 100-day average for that time of day.
West Kansas, southeast Colorado and parts of Oklahoma and Texas will miss most of the showers and thunderstorms forecast in the central and south plains, DTN said in a report yesterday. Cold temperatures may hurt the crop in west Kansas and Texas Panhandle, the forecaster said. Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado planted the biggest acreage to winter-wheat this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said March 28.
“A number of unfavorable weather developments should continue to provide price support,” Luke Mathews, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, wrote in a report today. “Ongoing frosts are contributing to ongoing yield concerns for the U.S. HRW wheat crop,” he said, referring to the hard-red winter variety by its initials.
About 31 percent of the U.S. winter-wheat crop was rated poor to very poor as of April 14, up from 30 percent a week earlier, the USDA said April 15.
Corn for July delivery lost 0.2 percent to $6.3925 a bushel, while soybeans gained 0.2 percent to $13.785 a bushel.
