US MIDDAY: Wheat, soya futures hit multi-year highs

CHICAGO: US wheat and soyabean futures jumped to multi-year highs on Wednesday as unfavorable weather threatened production in exporting countries.

Dryness has raised concerns among traders about the prospects for wheat planting in the US Plains and the Black Sea region and for soyabean planting in Brazil. Weather in the southern US Plains is expected to remain mainly dry over the next six to 10 days, with temperatures also running above average, according to broker Country Hedging.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 11-1/4 cents at $6.04 a bushel by 10:25 a.m. CDT (1525 GMT). It peaked at $6.11-1/2, the highest price since July 2015. CBOT soyabeans were up 8-1/2 cents at $10.52-1/2 a bushel after rising to $10.59-3/4, their highest since April 2018. Corn was 4-1/4 cents higher to $3.89-1/4 a bushel and reached its highest price since January.