Wheat rises for 5th day, soybeans at 1-week high

April 28th, 2014

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Category: Grains, Oilseeds

(Reuters) – Chicago wheat rose for a fifth straight session on Monday to its highest in nearly two weeks, with geopolitical tensions in the Black Sea region and dry weather in the U.S. Plains threatening to curb global supplies.

Soybeans rose to a one-week high, buoyed by tight U.S. old-crop supplies. Corn traded near its highest since April 9 with cold and wet conditions in the U.S. Midwest delaying planting.

Chicago Board of Trade May wheat rose 0.9 percent to $7.06-1/4 a bushel by 0254 GMT. It hit a peak of $7.08-3/4 a bushel, the highest since April 16.

May soybeans rose as much as 1.3 percent to $15.17 a bushel, the highest since April 21, and May corn added 0.5 percent to $5.09-3/4 a bushel.

“If there is escalation in tensions, it may cut exports from Ukraine and Russia,” said Vanessa Tan, investment analyst at Phillip Futures.

“As of now exports have not been impacted but going forward there is risk as sanctions could bring financing issues.”

U.S. President Barack Obama called for the United States and Europe to join forces to impose stronger measures to restrain Moscow.

Adding support to wheat are forecasts showing less-than-expected rain for key growing areas in the United States. Western portions of the Plains in particular are slated to remain dry.

The International Grains Council said on Friday it had revised down its 2014/15 global corn and wheat production forecasts.

World corn production was projected at 950 million tonnes, down 11 million from last month’s forecast, and below the prior season’s 965 million. For wheat, global production was trimmed by 3 million tonnes from the March forecast to 697 million, below last season’s 709 million tonnes.

Weather worries also lifted corn prices as cool and wet conditions slowed planting in the U.S. Midwest.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture will issue its planting progress report at 2000 GMT on Monday. In its last report on April 21, the USDA said 6 percent of the corn crop was planted, below the 9 percent expected by analysts and less than the average of 14 percent for that time of year.

Large speculators cut their net long positions in CBOT corn futures in the week to April 22, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that noncommercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in CBOT wheat and cut their net long position in soybeans.

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