Wheat Gains as U.S. Spring Crop Planting Slowed by Wet Fields

By Jae Hur

April 28 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat advanced, a day after it fell the most in two months, as U.S. spring-wheat planting was delayed by rain in the past week. Corn and soybeans slid on speculation a swine flu outbreak may cut feed and pork demand.

About 15 percent of the spring-wheat crop was seeded as of April 26, versus 6 percent a week earlier and 32 percent a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday in a report after the Chicago market closed. The average for the date for the previous five years was 36 percent.

“The plant delay has lent support for the wheat market,” said Toshimitsu Kawanabe, an analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker Central Shoji Co. “We also saw some short-covering in the grains and oilseed complex after yesterday’s sharp drop.”

July-delivery wheat climbed as much as 1.1 percent to $5.25 a bushel in after-hours trading on the Chicago Board of Trade and was at $5.2075 by 10:47 a.m. Singapore time. The contract lost 4.4 percent yesterday, the biggest drop since March 25.

Fears of globally spreading swine flu cases spurred the World Health Organization to raise its pandemic alert to an unprecedented level as the U.S. confirmed 40 cases and Mexico’s death toll reached 149. Hog and pork-belly futures plunged the daily limit of 3 cents a pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Several nations banned pork from Mexico and the U.S.

Cases have been reported in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Mexico and New Zealand. The virus, normally contagious only among pigs, raised concerns that this outbreak may be similar to the spread of the H5N1 bird flu in Asia during the past few years. That disease killed several hundred people and led to the slaughter of millions of chickens and other poultry.

‘Over-React’

“We cannot ignore the flu scare not only on the grains market but an overall economy,” Kawanabe said. “The market over-reacted yesterday and we saw some short-covering today.”

Corn for July delivery was 0.5 percent lower at $3.7875 a bushel by 10:50 a.m. Singapore time. The contract declined 1.3 percent yesterday after touching a week low of $3.70.

July-delivery soybeans dropped 0.2 percent to $9.95 a bushel after trading between $9.915 and $10.1025. The price dropped 3.6 percent yesterday, the most since Feb. 17, after touching $9.7525, the lowest since April 3.

Soybean meal for July delivery added 0.2 percent to $307 a ton and soybean oil fell 1.1 percent to 35.45 cents per pound.

About 22 percent of the U.S. corn crop was planted as of April 26, compared with 5 percent a week earlier and 9 percent a year earlier, the USDA said. The average was 28 percent at this time of year from 2004 to 2008.

“The corn planting will be further delayed this week following rain forecast,” Kawanabe said.

Soybean planting was 3 percent complete compared with 2 percent a year earlier, the USDA said in its first estimate of planting progress. The five-year average was 5 percent.

To contact the reporter for this story: Jae Hur in Singapore at jhur1@bloomberg.net