(Bloomberg) – Wheat advanced for a fourth day, the longest rally in six weeks, as spot prices traded at a discount to corn and importers locked in supplies before the U.S. harvest.
Wheat for May delivery climbed as much as 0.9 percent to $7.2125 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, and was at $7.205 at 11:24 a.m. in Singapore. The last time the most-active contract rose for four straight days was in Jan. 16. Futures are up 0.2 percent this week for the first gain in six weeks.
U.S. export sales for delivery in the marketing year beginning June 1 more than doubled to 152,340 metric tons in the week to Feb. 21, from a week earlier, buoyed by demand from China and Mexico, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. Hard, red winter variety sold at 38.5 cents a bushel cheaper than corn yesterday at ports near Kansas City, USDA data show. Wheat has typically been costlier than corn, with the premium averaging $1.57 a bushel in the past decade.
The discount and the export sales are “certainly helping push prices higher,” Ker Chung Yang, an analyst at Phillip Futures Pte, said by phone from Singapore today.
Corn May delivery added 0.3 percent to $7.0575 a bushel in Chicago, set for a 3.1 percent advance this week. Soybeans for May delivery were little changed at $14.535 a bushel, poised for a second weekly increase. That puts the price of soybeans at 2.06 times the cost of corn, compared with a 10-year average of 2.43 times. The two crops compete for acreage.
The number of vessels, shipping mainly soybeans, arrived or expected at major ports in Brazil rose to 167 yesterday, from 150 a week ago, data from SA Commodities and Unimar Agenciamentos Maritimos show. The vessels carry 9.68 million tons of soybeans and related products, up from 8.79 million tons a week earlier, according to the data compiled by Bloomberg.
“Poor weather in Brazil is hampering deliveries,” Ker said. “That’s supportive of prices.”
