Chicago Board of Trade wheat prices rose nearly 2 percent on Wednesday, halting a four-day sell-off, and corn and soyabeans also firmed, joining a broad rally in commodities tied in part to end-of-the-month buying. Wheat rose to the day's high after Egypt, the world's biggest wheat importer, purchased a total of 300,000 tonnes of wheat from Romania, Russia and France.
"We had a reminder the world is still hungry, with Egypt buying 300,000 tonnes of wheat," said Rich Feltes, vice president of research for R.J. O'Brien, although he noted that none of the wheat was of US origin. At the CBOT as of 10:50 am CDT (1550 GMT), CBOT December wheat was up 15 cents, or 1.7 percent, at $8.71-3/4 per bushel. December corn was up 13-1/2 cents at $7.55-1/4 a bushel and most-active January soyabeans were up 18 cents at $15.54-1/2 a bushel.
Analysts noted ongoing concerns about tightening global supplies of wheat, given excessive rains in Argentina and poor yields in Australia. Argentina's Rosario grains exchange on Tuesday projected the country's wheat production at 10 million tonnes, below the US Department of Agriculture's latest forecast for Argentina at 11.5 million. CBOT December wheat attracted technical buying by staying above its 100-day moving average near $8.58. The contract dipped below that average on Tuesday for the first time since June, but settled just above it.
Additional support stemmed from concerns that rain and snow in Ohio this week could limit plantings of soft red winter wheat, the type traded in Chicago. Front-month CBOT December corn hit a one-week high at $7.57-3/4 a bushel. Like wheat, December corn gained technical momentum by staying above its 100-day moving average. The contract dipped below that line on Monday for the first time since June, but has settled above it each day this week. Soyabean futures rose 1 percent, climbing for a second day on technical buying, talk of demand from top soya buyer China and some concerns about planting delays in South America.