US wheat futures rose as much as 2 percent on Thursday, lifted by worries that US rains could reduce grain quality and that dry conditions in Russia and Canada would stress crops. Chicago Board of Trade corn futures gained about 1 percent, rising in sympathy with wheat, while soyabeans were nearly unchanged, anchored by huge global stockpiles as Brazilian analyst Agroconsult raised its estimate for the current harvest there to a new record of 96.1 million tonnes.
"It's all about the wheat concerns today - what's going on in the hard red winter areas," EFG Group analyst Tom Fritz said of the southern US Plans wheat belt. Heavy rains that have drastically offset a multiyear drought in the Plains also caused localised flooding and threatened to reduce yields in Texas and Oklahoma, crop experts said. K.C. wheat futures for July delivery jumped to a one-month high of $5.64 per bushel. Most-active CBOT July wheat was up 10-3/4 cents, or 2 percent, at $5.23-3/4 per bushel as of 10:37 am CDT (1537 GMT).
Each contract drifted off its session highs, with CBOT wheat struggling to hold above its 100-day moving average. CBOT July corn gained 4 cents to $3.64 and CBOT July soyabeans were down 2-1/2 cents at $9.38-3/4. Exporters in South America were offering cheaper corn and soyabeans than the United States into many global destinations. Agroconsult at midmorning also lifted its estimate for the Brazilian corn harvest, to 82.1 million tonnes, up from 79.4 million tonnes in March.
Soyabeans were holding just above their seven-month lows reached on Wednesday, while corn futures remained in the narrow range that defined the trade for about three weeks. Some investors were evening their books ahead of the three-day weekend in observance of the US Memorial Day holiday on Monday.