SYDNEY: US wheat futures rose on Tuesday to hit a six-month high as dry weather across a major producing region stoked concerns about potential shortfalls in output.
Corn edged lower, retreating after posting gains of more than 1 percent in the previous session, while soybean prices extended their two-day advance to 2 percent.
The most active wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.6 percent at $4.66-3/4 a bushel at 0350 GMT, after earlier touching their highest since Aug. 8 at $4.67-1/4 a bushel. Wheat closed up 3.3 percent on Monday.
Wheat has come under sustained pressure in recent months amid ample global supplies, but with forecasts for continued dry weather, traders are growing increasingly worried about production shortfalls.
"Many, ourselves included, would be most uncomfortable about being short now. Investors, many of whom will be like-minded, have enough buying power to push prices higher," said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy, Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
The run-up in prices appeared likely to curb export demand for US wheat, a factor underscored when the US Department of Agriculture on Thursday lowered its US wheat export forecast for the 2017/18 marketing year.
The most active corn futures were down 0.1 percent at $3.66-3/4 a bushel. They gained 1.4 percent in the previous session.
The most active soybean futures were up 0.1 percent at $10.02-1/4 a bushel, having firmed 1.9 percent on Monday.
Gains in soybeans were checked by concerns about Chinese demand.
Meanwhile, some Chinese buyers have cancelled corn purchases from the United States and switched to rival supplier Ukraine, as Beijing tightens controls on processing genetically modified strains of the crop, trade sources said.
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