Wheat prices remain high

Wheat prices were higher Wednesday on drought in the Ukraine and heat in Australia.

December wheat on the Chicago Board of Trade added 8.75 cents to $7.47 per bushel in midmorning trade, approaching record highs reached on 23 August, while on the Euronext.Liffe November milling wheat added €3 to €244 per tonne.

The Ukraine will export 58 percent less this year, while Australian wheat production could fall to 18 million tons, below the 22.5 million tons forecast by the Australian government and the US Department of Agriculture estimate of 23 million tons.

Corn prices were lower for the fifth day in a row, with CBOT December corn down 3.25 cents to $3.415 per bushel in late morning trade after predictions of a record harvest.

Crude oil prices climbed Wednesday after the US Energy Information Administration released new data showing that inventories dropped 3.5 million barrels last week to 333.6 million barrels in the face of forecasts that stockpiles would only decline by around 800,000 barrels.

West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery was up $1.78 to $73.51 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, Brent crude was $1.31 higher to $71.58 per barrel late in the day on the Intercontinental Exchange in London.

Gasoline inventories dropped 3.6 million barrels on a forecast of only a 1.7 million barrel decline, taking gasoline stockpiles down to a 20-day supply – their lowest level since March 1991 – while distillates added 900,000 barrels to inventories.

Nymex December gasoline was 4 cents higher to $1.90 per gallon and heating oil had added 5 cents to $2.06 per gallon, while October natural gas was 18 cents lower to $5.58 per million British thermal units.

Precious metals prices were higher in New York Wednesday on the possibility that a cut in US interest rates could weaken the dollar and boost demand as investors look for a safer place to put their money.

December gold was $1.90 higher to $675.40 per troy ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange, while December silver was up 8 cents to $12.01 per troy ounce and October platinum added $6.20 to $1,266.80 per troy ounce.

Among base metals, December copper added 3 cents to $3.34 in New York, while in London copper added 1.2 percent in late trade to $7,385 per tonne even though the London Metal Exchange added 3,025 tonnes to inventories during the day.

Helping copper prices higher were stronger equities markets and a threat from Chinese copper smelters to cut production in the face of low refinery charges.

Elsewhere, in late morning trade in London, nickel had dropped 1 percent to $27,400 per tonne on increased inventories, while later in the day aluminium added 0.2 percent to trade at $2,533 per tonne.

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