BEIJING: China’s most traded corn futures closed up 0.5% on Monday, extending gains for the fourth straight trading day as the market was concerned floods in northern and northeastern producing regions have damaged crops.

The September contract on the Dalian Commodities Exchange last traded at 2,767 yuan ($384.99) per tonne ($384.34).

In total, prices have risen around 2.3% since last Wednesday when floods in Zhuozhou in northern Hebei Province, a corn producing region, triggered a rally.

The flooding spread from Beijing, which suffered the heaviest rain in 140 years.

Since Typhoon Doksuri made landfall in southern Fujian province two weeks ago, heavy rain has also lashed the northeastern provinces Heilongjiang and Jilin, both among the country’s top corn producers.

As a result of the extreme rainfall, the market has reviewed its expectations of a bumper crop following an increase in planting acreage, analysts said.

“Now we can only speculate that the taller crops, like corn, will be more damaged by the rain,” Feng Ziyue, an analyst at Jinshi Futures said.