Wheat Futures Rise on Concern Harsh Weather May Reduce Global Production

(Bloomberg) -- Wheat rose in Chicago and Kansas
City on speculation that heavy rains in northern Europe and
hot, dry conditions in parts of the U.S. and Canada will reduce
global production.

About 75 percent of northern Europe received as much as
1 inch (2.5 centimeters) of rain during the weekend and more is
expected in the next 10 days, damaging wheat, said John Dee,
president of Global Weather Monitoring in Mohawk, Michigan. In
North America, dry weather and temperatures above 100 degrees
Fahrenheit (38 Celsius) may damage ripening crops, Dee said.


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Wheat Advances in Chicago on Demand From Overseas; Soybeans, Corn Decline

(Bloomberg) -- Wheat futures in Chicago rose,
extending gains as overseas demand for the U.S. grain increased
after a recent price decline. Soybean and corn futures fell.

Egypt, Japan and buyers in Taiwan this week said they
bought or planned to buy a total of more than 460,000 metric
tons of U.S. wheat. Importers are increasing purchases after
futures fell from a record $6.50 a bushel on June 29. World
inventories are forecast to drop before next year's harvest to
the lowest since 1982.


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Wheat Futures Rise in Kansas City as U.S. Cuts Crop Estimate After Rains

(Bloomberg) -- Wheat rose in Kansas City as the
U.S. Department of Agriculture cut its estimate for this year's
harvest after excessive rains hurt the winter crop in the
southern Great Plains.

U.S. farmers will harvest 2.138 billion bushels of wheat,
down 1.4 percent from a June estimate, the USDA said today in a
report. The rains damaged the hard-red winter crop in parts of
Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas.


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Wheat Rebounds on Demand From Japan, Egypt, Prospects for Global Shortfall

(Bloomberg) -- Wheat rose in Chicago on demand for
U.S. grain from Japan and Egypt amid forecasts for the lowest
global inventories in 26 years.

Japan plans to buy 40,000 metric tons of U.S. varieties.
Egypt said it purchased 60,000 tons. Advance sales of U.S.
supplies for delivery before May 31 are up 22 percent from a
year earlier, Department of Agriculture data showed. Global
stockpiles may fall to 112 million tons by May 31, the lowest
since 1982, the U.S. agency said on June 11.


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Wheat Futures Decline as Dry Weather Speeds Harvest of U.S. Winter Crop

(Bloomberg) -- Wheat fell in Kansas City and Chicago
on speculation that drier weather accelerated harvesting of the
U.S. winter crop in the southern Great Plains.

Parts of Kansas, the largest winter-wheat-producing state,
have received no rain in the past seven days, National Weather
Service data show. Harvest of the hard-red crop from Texas to
Nebraska had been delayed as nearly four times normal rain fell
in parts of the region in the past 30 days. Farmers may increase
sales after prices rose 33 percent in three months in Chicago.


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Wheat Futures Rise to Record as Rains Delay Harvest in U.S. Great Plains

(Bloomberg) -- Wheat futures rose to a record in
Chicago as wet weather in the southern Great Plains delays
harvesting of the U.S. winter crop, threatening yields.

As much as 3 inches (7.6 centimeters) of rain fell in
Oklahoma and Texas, leaving fields too muddy for heavy harvest
machinery. Only about half of the winter crop has been
harvested in the two states, compared with a year ago when most
of the grain had been collected, government data show. Oklahoma
is fourth in winter-wheat production. Texas ranks 14th.


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Zimbabwe imports 60,000T wheat to ease shortage

(Reuters) - Zimbabwe has imported 60,000 tonnes of wheat worth $25 million to ease bread shortages after millers in the crisis-hit southern African country ran out of the grain, the official Herald newspaper reported on Thursday.

Wheat is Zimbabwe's second staple grain, after maize, but the country -- a regional breadbasket before President Robert Mugabe's drive to seize land from whites to resettle landless blacks -- has failed to meet its annual consumption requirements of between 400,000 and 450,000 tonnes.


Read more at Reuters Africa

Wheat Futures Fall as Drier Weather May Aid Harvest of U.S. Winter Crop

(Bloomberg) -- Wheat prices fell in Chicago and
Kansas City as drier weather in the southern Great Plains may
help farmers in Kansas and northern Oklahoma begin the harvest on
time.

Wheat cutting usually starts about June 15 in Kansas, the
largest U.S. producer. Harvests in Texas and Oklahoma have been
slowed this year by excessive rains. Parts of those states have
received as much as four times normal moisture in the past 30
days, according to National Weather Service data.


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