Wheat climbs to one-week high with Russia supply risks in focus

Chicago wheat extended gains on Thursday to a one-week high as traders awaited an official update on Russia's harvest after adverse weather and assessed rumours that the country may curb its massive exports.

Corn rose with support from wheat while soybeans little changed as investors adjusted positions before a US supply-demand report on Friday that will feature new estimates of the US corn and soybean harvests.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 1.7% at $6.09 a bushel by 1105 GMT, rising for a fourth consecutive session.

The contract earlier reached its highest since Oct. 3, though traders were watching if it would end above $6 after failing to breach the chart ceiling at Wednesday's close.

Russia remained the focus in wheat markets as participants grappled with signs that harsh weather is reducing wheat production in major export zones.

The country's agriculture ministry is due to announce later on Thursday a revised estimate for the 2024 grain harvest that takes into account poor weather and a Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region.

The ministry has also called the country's major grain exporters to a meeting on Friday, sources said, a step that has heightened expectations that Moscow will curb exports after heavy flows so far this season.

"This meeting has been a driver for wheat prices since yesterday," a European trader said. "There was also another vessel struck in Ukraine and this is starting to accumulate."

Ukrainian officials said a Russian missile attack in the Odesa region that killed six people on Wednesday also damaged a container ship, the latest vessel to be hit in recent days as Moscow intensifies strikes on Ukraine's ports.

There is also concern about next harvests in major wheat producers.

Drought has slowed winter wheat sowing in Russia, while in Argentina the Rosario grains exchange on Wednesday trimmed its estimate for the 2024/25 wheat harvest due to insufficient rainfall.

CBOT soybeans were unchanged on the day at $10.20-1/4 a bushel and CBOT corn added 0.5% to $4.23-1/4 a bushel.

The US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) monthly crop report on Friday will show whether the agency still expects record yields for both crops despite a dry end to the season.

A steadying in crude oil lent support to corn and soybeans as investors continued to weigh the risk of further military escalation in the Middle East against uncertain global demand.