Wheat advanced on speculation that a recent slide in prices will boost demand from importers and as growing areas in Russia face a heat wave in the next few days that may hurt yields.
Temperatures are forecast to rise above 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 degrees Fahrenheit) in southeast Russia and Kazakhstan by the end of this week, data from World Ag Weather shows. Parts of the region received less than 20 percent of normal rainfall in the past three months.
Wheat for July delivery rose 0.1 percent to $6.7125 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade before a pause in trading at 7:45 a.m. local time, rebounding from an earlier 0.6 percent drop. Milling wheat for November delivery traded on Euronext in Paris was unchanged at 199.75 euros ($272.94) a metric ton.
“Hot conditions in Russia look set to cause concern,” U.K. grains trader Gleadell Agriculture Ltd. wrote in a comment today. “Temperatures in Russia, specifically the Volga district, have soared with certain key growing areas now more than 10 degrees Celsius higher than normal, which has the potential to hurt production potential.”
Chicago wheat has dropped 7 percent this month as abundant world supply is expected to lift stockpiles even as a Midwest drought cuts U.S. production. World wheat inventories are forecast to rise 0.5 percent to 187.4 million tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts.
Iraq bought 150,000 tons of Russian wheat, the Trade Ministry wrote in an e-mailed statement today. Jordan tendered to buy 150,000 tons of wheat, the country’s Trade Ministry said May 16.
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