Wheat futures rise for 2nd day


FE Team | Published: May 16, 2018 21:45:25


Wheat futures rise for 2nd day

Chicago wheat futures rose for a second session on Wednesday with prices underpinned by dry weather in key exporters the United States and Australia.

Corn futures were little changed after hitting a six-day high earlier in the session as forecasts for rains stoked concerns of planting delays, reports Reuters.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade gained 0.2 per cent to $4.94-1/2 per bushel while soybeans were down 0.6 per cent to $10.12-3/4 a bushel.

Corn was unchanged at $4.02-1/4 a bushel, near the session high of $4.03-1/4, the highest since May 10. Corn gained 1.5 per cent in the previous session.

"Chicago wheat is undervalued right now, when you look at the global supply outlook," said Ole Houe, an analyst with brokerage IKON Commodities in Sydney. "We have issues with crops in the United States and Australia."

Australian farmers are planting wheat in some of the driest soils in years, following on from a severe drought that cut 2017/18 output in the world's fourth-largest exporter to the lowest in a decade.

US hard red winter wheat crop has suffered from dry weather although the US Department of Agriculture on Monday said the crop was rated 36 per cent good to excellent as of May 14, up 2 per centage points from a week earlier.

The corn market is expected to receive support if forecast rains delay the last leg of planting in the US Midwest.

The USDA pegged corn planting progress at 62 per cent, up from 39 per cent a week earlier. The five-year average for mid-May is 63 per cent.

The US soybean crush in April jumped by almost 16 per cent from the same month a year ago as soybean plants processed their largest-ever volume of beans for the month of April, the National Oilseed Processors Association said.

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