Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) wheat futures ended higher for the third time in four days on Friday, holding near a 10-month high as dry weather threatened crop prospects in the US Plains and other major global production areas.
CBOT July soft red winter wheat ended 12-3/4 cents higher at $5.43 a bushel, just below a 10-month high of $5.45-1/4 set in the previous day's session. The contract was up 4.8 percent in the week, its second straight weekly gain.
K.C. hard red winter wheat and Minneapolis spring wheat markets also closed higher.
A dry forecast for the drought-hit southern US Plains has elevated concerns the HRW crop. Dry weather in parts of Canada, Australia and Russia also threatened crops in those major exporting countries.
Russian grain consultancy IKAR said on Friday it had downgraded its forecast for Russian wheat exports to 34.3 million tonnes for the 2018/2019 season. Chicago Board of Trade grain futures markets will be closed on Monday for the US Memorial Day holiday.