Chicago wheat futures post gains

PARIS/SINGAPORE: Chicago wheat rose on Monday to hold near a two-week high as concerns over crop weather in the Northern Hemisphere encouraged short-covering, analysts and traders said.

Corn and soybeans were little changed following one-week highs as concerns about an escalating conflict in the Middle East eased.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 1.2% at $5.73-1/2 a bushel by 1111 GMT.

The market had climbed to its highest since April 5 in the previous session when wheat tracked a broad rally in commodities following reports of Israeli missile strikes in Iran.

While signs that Tehran was playing down the attack removed geopolitical impetus for prices on Monday, adverse weather in several major wheat production zones kept futures supported.

In Europe, parts of France, Germany and Poland were forecast to experience light frosts, which could potentially hurt wheat crops that had developed rapidly during recent warm spells.

Persisting dryness in parts of the US Plains and in the south of top wheat exporter Russia were adding to weather worries.

“As the week gets underway, it is the weather that will be causing concern,” Argus’ crop consultancy Agritel said in a note.

Large short positions held by investment funds, including in soon-to-expire May futures, were encouraging short-covering moves, traders said.

On Euronext, May wheat was up 1.6% at 209.75 euros ($223.34) per metric ton after earlier hitting a new four-week peak.

Traders were also monitoring Russian attacks on Ukraine’s Black Sea coast.

Russian missiles hit the port of Pivdennyi in Ukraine’s southern Odesa region on Friday, destroying grain storage facilities and foodstuffs they contained, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other officials said.

Ukraine’s national railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia, meanwhile, said on Monday it has lifted its temporary ban on all cargo transportation towards the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk.

CBOT corn was unchanged on the day at $4.33-1/2 a bushel, while soybeans ticked down 0.3% to $11.62-3/4 a bushel. Both crops set one-week highs earlier in the session.