Chicago wheat futures rose on Thursday as Russia declared a state of emergency in key grain-growing regions due to frosts, while corn and soybeans also edged up.
Three of Russia’s key grain-growing areas declared a state of emergency on Wednesday, citing May frosts that have caused severe damage to crops and will reduce this year’s harvest.
Dealers said the impact of frosts in Russia, the world’s top wheat exporter, would be closely monitored with crops entering a key period for their development.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 1.7% at $6.45 a bushel as of 1011 GMT.
Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) bought 114,077 metric tons of food-quality wheat from the United States, Canada and Australia in a regular tender that closed on Thursday.
Corn gained 0.55% to $4.61 a bushel, while soybeans rose 0.35% to $12.32 a bushel.
Argentina’s Rosario grains exchange said the leafhopper plague has ruined around 20% of the corn crop this season, while cutting its harvest estimate for 2023/24 to 47.5 million metric tons from 50 million tons.
The exchange also held its estimate for the current soybean harvest at 50.0 million tons, though it cautioned harvesting has been delayed by rains and high humidity.
China’s soybean imports in April jumped 18% from a year earlier to 8.57 million metric tons, according to the General Administration of Customs, the highest on record for April as buyers snapped up cheap and plentiful Brazilian beans.
Expectation that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) May supply and demand and crop production reports due on Friday will show adequate supply limited the rebound.
There have been some bullish developments to spark short-covering that has driven the gains, but a USDA report due at the end of the week is expected to show a comfortable supply outlook in the United States and globally, Bergman Grains Research said.
(Additional reporting by Mei Mei Chu in Beijing; Editing by Varun H K, Subhranshu Sahu and Shounak Dasgupta)
