US wheat futures rose on Friday for the third straight day on hopes US supplies will gain more traction on the export market owing to concerns about the quality of European crops, traders said. High-protein K.C. hard red winter wheat, prized by exporters, led the gains with a 1.4 percent rally.
Corn and soyabeans fell as the weather forecast turned wetter for some of the drier areas of the US Midwest, boosting expectations for huge crops this fall.
Worries about the wheat harvest in Europe producing supplies that are not suitable for export weighed on Euronext futures but propped up the US wheat contracts, which have treaded water near four-year lows hit earlier this month.
"Better hopes for (US) exports are finally emerging, though the global market still looks like it has plenty of cheap wheat," said Bryce Knorr, senior editor at Farm Futures Magazine.
The competitiveness of Russian wheat, which made a clean sweep of sales in the Egyptian tender, could curb a rebound in US prices. Forecasts for good yields in the Canadian crop despite heavy flooding early in the season also kept gains in check.
At 11:08 am CDT (1608 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade wheat for September delivery was up 4-1/4 cents at $5.34-1/2. The K.C. September contract was up 8-1/2 cents at $6.34-1/4 a bushel.
CBOT front-month wheat was on track for a weekly loss of 0.7 percent.
CBOT September corn was down 3 cents at $3.54 a bushel while August soyabeans were 9-1/2 cents lower at $12.15 a bushel. The new-crop November soyabean contract shed 23-1/2 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $10.58-1/2 a bushel.
For the week, soyabeans were up 0.3 percent and corn was 2.7 percent lower. Corn has fallen for six weeks in a row, shedding 22 percent during that time.