By Luzi Ann Javier - Aug 15, 2012 4:42 AM GMT+0400
Wheat for December delivery climbed as much as 0.8 percent to $8.6475 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, before trading at $8.635 at 8:30 a.m. Singapore time. Corn for December delivery rose 0.3 percent to $7.91 a bushel.
Wheat and corn advanced as drought cut grain crops from Russia to the U.S. amid rising demand from importers. Soybeans also gained.
Egypt, the world’s largest wheat importer, bought 60,000 metric tons of Russian milling wheat at $313 a ton, and an equal amount of Ukranian wheat at $313.88 a ton, the General Authority for Supply Commodities, said yesterday. Algeria is seeking to buy 50,000 tons of soft wheat of optional origin, Paris-based farm adviser Agritel said yesterday.
Importers tendered for wheat “as the market became concerned with rising grain prices and the lower export volume out of the Black Sea in 2013,” Eric Bailon, president of Manila-based Paritas Trading Corp. said in a report.
In Russia, the world’s third-largest wheat exporter in 2011-2012, about 5.6 million hectares of land planted with grains and other crops were devastated by drought, with the damage to agriculture reaching 36.5 billion rubles ($1.1 billion), the Agriculture Ministry said.
The Northern Plains in the U.S., where corn and spring wheat are planted, will be mainly dry tomorrow and the eastern part will have few light showers through Aug. 29, Telvent DTN Inc. said in a report yesterday.
Farmers in Brazil and Argentina are forecast to plant more soybeans for harvesting this season in response to higher prices, at the expense of wheat and corn, Oil World said yesterday. The two countries are the world’s largest soybean growers after the U.S. Argentina and Brazil are also forecast to be the largest corn shippers behind the U.S. in 2012-2013, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Soybeans for November-delivery advanced as much as 0.5 percent to $16.06 a bushel, before trading at $16.0075.
To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net