Wheat rises on short-covering, US planting worries

NEW YORK: US wheat futures gained on Monday, lifted by short-covering as well as concerns about North American production as American weather threatened to delay planting.

Corn prices also rose, extending gains into a fourth session, while soybean futures firmed.

The May wheat futures contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 3-1/2 cents at $4.69-1/2 per bushel by 11:56 a.m. EDT (1556 GMT).

CBOT May Corn gained 1-1/4 cent to $3.79-1/2 per bushel. It earlier hit $3.80-1/4 a bushel, near its highest level since Feb. 25.

CBOT May soybeans rose 2-1/4 cents to $9.06 a bushel.

"It's a macro day," said Terry Reilly, senior commodity analyst at Futures International. "Some traders are just thinking the grain markets are oversold."

Raising concerns about wheat production, a blanket of heavy, wet snow is covering most of North Dakota, the top US wheat state, which could mean a delay in planting of spring wheat.

The Farm Belt is still reeling from a "bomb cyclone" storm that unleashed floods last week.

"The flooding we saw last week is spilling over into today's market," Reilly said. "It reduces the total amount of prospected harvesting area."

On Monday, the US Department of Agriculture reported export inspections of US wheat in the latest week at 340,398 tonnes. Export inspections of corn totaled 995,997 tonnes, while inspections of soybeans were 857,970 tonnes.

Corn futures received some support from strong Chinese demand.

The US Department of Agriculture announced corn sales totaling 300,000 tonnes to China on Friday - the largest purchase by Beijing in five years.

The orders came following weeks of rumors that Beijing was poised to make a goodwill purchase of the grain amid ongoing US-China trade talks.

A farmer survey by crop advisory firm Farm Futures on Friday said US growers will plant 1.9 percent more corn acres this year and 3.7 percent fewer soybean acres.

Meanwhile, traders remained focused on US-China trade negotiations as US officials prepared to travel to Beijing this week to accelerate talks, buoying soybean prices ahead of the discussions.