May 16, 2014
Wheat faces largest price drop since June 2013
The price of wheat is bound for its largest weekly retreat since June 2013, on the anticipation of the coming rain, forecasts for parts of the US, may help crops which are affected by dry weather.
The development is also expected to boost global supply.
The contract for July delivery traded at US$6.7725 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade in Singapore, from $6.7825 on May 15, when prices dropped for a seventh day. The grain fell as much as 0.3% to US$6.765 earlier on May 16, the lowest since April 23, and has declined 6.3% this week.
Wheat dropped from a 14-month high on May 6 on signs that global supply will be ample even as dry weather hurt yields in the US, the biggest exporter. World stockpiles will rise 0.5% to 187.4 million tonnes by June 1, 2015, the USDA said on May 9.
Scattered showers are possible in the central Plains into the weekend, improving topsoil moisture, Commodity Weather Group LLC said.
The weather outlook "points to wetter conditions through the US Plains, where the wheat crop is in need of moisture," added analyst from Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. Prices may find support at about US$6.70, ANZ said.
Wheat climbed 12% this year amid the dry weather in the US, where output will drop 7.8% to 53.4 million tonnes in 2014-2015, the USDA estimates. About 44% of US winter crop was headed, as of May 11, from 29% the previous week and 28% a year earlier, USDA data show.
Corn for July delivery advanced 0.1% to US$4.8475 a bushel. The rise trimmed this week's loss to 4.5%, the biggest since the period ending July 26. Soybeans rose 0.4 % to US$14.76 a bushel, paring a weekly loss.
