The September-delivery contract gained as much as 1.5% to US$4.6375 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. The euro rose to its highest level in a week against the dollar before a European report that economists said will show industrial production expanded for an eleventh consecutive month.

 

''The weaker dollar has lent support to most commodities today,'' said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at Tokyo-based IDO Securities Co.

 

The contract gained 1% to US$4.615 at 1:56 p.m. in Singapore after climbing 1.1% last week, the first advance in three weeks. The most-active contract has fallen 15% this year because of reduced demand for US grain and rising global stockpiles.

 

Wheat farmers in Western Canada will sow the fewest acres since 1971, the Canadian Wheat Board said Friday (June 11). Spring-wheat acreage is expected to fall 9% from last year and durum seeding may fall 40% because of low prices and excessive rain, said Bruce Burnett, the director of weather and market analysis at the CWB.

 

The euro strengthened 0.5% to US$1.2173 after trading as high as US$1.2208, the strongest level since June 4, early this month.

 

Corn futures for December delivery remained unchanged at US$3.71 after climbing 3.2% last week on speculation that shrinking inventories will force Chinese processors to boost imports from the US.

 

China, the second-largest corn user, sold 524,800 tonnes from government reserves on Friday (June 11) to meet domestic demand, the National Grain & Oil Information Centre said. China may import a huge amount of US corn, Sam Niu Yishan, the assistant director for US Grains Council in Beijing, said in a report on Thursday (June 10). China's harvest fell 6.6% last year.

 

Soy for November delivery was little changed at US$9.1025 a bushel.