Wheat climbs on weather worries, soybeans follow crude higher

BEIJING: Chicago wheat futures rose on Thursday and hovered near their highest in nearly two years, supported by concerns over dryness in the US winter wheat belt.

Soybeans hit their highest level in more than six weeks, tracking higher crude oil prices. Corn remained unchanged.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.34% at $6.55-1/4 a bushel, as of 0041 GMT.

Soybeans rose 0.5% to $12.03 a bushel, while corn was flat at $4.77-3/4 a bushel. Rainy weather in the US Plains wheat belt could alleviate some of the drought stress on crops, but some areas may have already experienced yield loss.

Upcoming rain is forecast to miss some dry areas. Corn futures have been buoyed by strong export demand, slight weather concerns in the US corn belt and expectations of reduced planting due to high fertiliser costs.

Taiwan’s MFIG purchasing group bought about 65,000 metric tons of animal feed corn expected to be sourced from the US in an international tender on Wednesday, European traders said.

Early US soybean and corn planting has been making good progress, though storms expected in the US Midwest could delay seeding in some areas.

Higher crude oil prices have buoyed the soy complex and corn future, as soybeans and corn are key feedstocks for biofuel production.

Commodity funds were net sellers of corn, wheat and soymeal, traders said on Wednesday.