US wheat edged higher on Wednesday, rising for eight out 10 sessions with uncertainty over Russian supplies, while corn dipped after climbing to more than a five-month high in the previous session. Soybeans were little changed after closing almost flat on Tuesday. "The wheat market is very bullish because of the Russian situation, food prices in Russia have risen sharply," said Kaname Gokon, general manager of research at brokerage Okato Shoji in Tokyo.
"Russian government is restocking domestic wheat supply and this is likely to reduce exports." Chicago Board of Trade March wheat rose 0.3 percent to $6.37-1/2 a bushel by 0233 GMT while March corn gave up 0.2 percent to $4.13-1/4 a bushel after jumping to its highest since July 9. January soybeans were trading almost flat at $10.39 a bushel. Russia has stiffened its bid to curb grain exports with plans for an imminent duty on shipments to defend domestic bread supplies against a crumbling rouble.
Russia, expected to be the world's fourth-largest exporter this year with the largest buyers in Turkey and Egypt, has been exporting record volumes of a big grain crop of 104 million tonnes as the rouble fall attracted buyers. The timeline for restrictions and impact on the global market were, however, unclear, traders said. Concerns about tightening supplies were helping to lift prices, they added. Corn prices have risen this week as traditional buyers like Mexico, Japan and South Korea have increased purchases of US corn. Rising demand has sparked short-covering by investors, traders said.
US corn was competitive in global markets through most of the first half of 2015, supporting futures even as global supplies remained plentiful and growing conditions favourable in South America. China has allowed imports of one of Argentina's genetically modified varieties of corn, Argentina's agriculture ministry said, adding to a number of approvals given in recent days by the world's second-largest corn consumer. Commodity funds were net buyers of 3,000 corn contracts, 4,000 wheat contracts and were even in soybeans, traders said.
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