Wheat jumps as demand for US grain may rise

(The Economic Times) – Wheat rose on Friday on speculation that demand for grain from the US, the world’s biggest exporter, will increase as Russia and Ukraine run low on supplies.

Corn also gained, while soya beans slid. Last week, Egypt bought 4,75,000 tonne wheat from Russia, Ukraine and Romania . Russia’s grain harvest will fall to 69 million tonne this year, down from a forecast of as much as 72 million tonne a month earlier , according to the Institute for Agriculture Market Studies.

“We’re just starting to figure out that Russia and Ukraine, the whole Black Sea region, cannot continue to export at the rate they have been, and prices need to go higher,” said Frank J. Cholly, a senior commodities broker at RJO Futures in Chicago.

Wheat futures for December delivery rose 1.5% to settle at $9.05 a bushel at 2 pm on the Chicago Board of Trade, extending the weekly gain to 1.7%. Corn futures for December delivery climbed 0.1% to $7.995 a bushel in Chicago. Soya bean futures for November delivery fell 0.6% to $17.365 a bushel on the CBOT.