US spring wheat hits 3-yr high, Chicago wheat up for 3rd day

SINGAPORE: US spring wheat futures hit a three-year high on Thursday as dry weather threatened to reduce US spring crop production, while Chicago wheat futures rose for a third consecutive session.

Soybeans gained more ground in early Asian trade, while corn was unmoved with pressure from beneficial weather.

The wheat market has been supported as crop conditions in the northern US Plains spring wheat region have deteriorated sharply in the last month due to hot and dry weather.

"The wheat market is in bullish trend as weather is becoming a big issue for the US spring wheat crop," said Kaname Gokon of Tokyo brokerage Okato Shoji.

"We are also seeing strong demand for US products."

U.S spring wheat futures rose 2.1 percent to $7.19 a bushel, highest since July 2014.

Analysts expect the US Department of Agriculture on Friday to lower its estimate of US spring wheat plantings for 2017. Given anecdotal reports of farmers baling spring wheat fields this month for hay, traders will also monitor the government's forecast of harvested acres.

Russia has started grain harvesting in its southern regions, with yields so far lower than at the same date a year ago, following a delay caused by rainy weather, the agriculture ministry said in statement on Wednesday.

The world's leading global wheat exporter is widely expected to harvest a major grain crop this year, although it will be lower than the record crop in 2016.

Chicago Board of Trade soybeans firmed while corn is under pressure after beneficial showers moved across top producer Iowa overnight. However, forecasts called for warmer and drier conditions in the Midwest after the Fourth of July holiday.

Traders were squaring positions ahead of the USDA's acreage and quarterly stocks reports, publications that often trigger sharp price movements.

Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT corn futures contracts on Wednesday and net buyers of soybeans and wheat, traders said.