Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat futures jumped 3.9 percent on Wednesday to their highest in more than seven months, breaking through key technical barriers on support from concerns about crop development in the US Plains, traders said. The gains in the wheat market spilled over into corn, which rose to its highest since August 10.
Soyabean futures also rose, underpinned by worries about drought in Argentina limiting the size of the crop that will be harvested in that key export supplier. The benchmark CBOT soft red winter wheat contract has risen for five days in a row, gaining 10.7 percent during the rally.
At 10:23 am CST (1623 GMT), CBOT May soft red winter wheat futures were up 18 cents at $4.95 a bushel. Prices peaked at $4.99-1/2 a bushel, the highest for the most-active wheat contract since July 21. K.C. May hard red winter wheat, which tracks the crop grown in the moisture-stressed US Plains, were 18-1/4 cents higher at $5.23 a bushel.
Lack of rain in Argentina continues to threaten the soyabean harvest in the third-largest producer after Brazil and the United States. Argentina is the world's largest soyameal exporter. CBOT May soyabean futures were up 6-1/4 cents at $10.55-3/4 a bushel. But technical pressure kept the gains in check after the contract failed to take out Monday's high of $10.59-1/2 a bushel.
Soyabeans received additional support from news that private exporters sold 250,000 tonnes of soyabeans for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2017/18 marketing year, according to the US Agriculture Department. The gains in soyabeans and wheat provided a boost to corn futures. CBOT May corn was 3-3/4 cents higher at $3.83 a bushel, on track for its third straight day of gains.