Wheat futures jumped the most in a month in Paris amid speculation that dry weather inFrance and Germany, the European Union’s biggest growers, may hurt production this year.
Milling wheat for November delivery rose 9 euros, or 4.3 percent, to 217 euros a metric ton on NYSE Liffe in the French capital, the most since March 17. The November contract, the most-active contract in Paris, is the first for settlement after this year’s EU wheat harvest.
Northern France has built up an “important” deficit in water supply since the end of January, while German crops need rain in coming weeks after a dry March, the EU’s Monitoring Agricultural Resources unit said in a report dated April 12.
“The operators are starting to get concerned about the dry conditions,” Jean Simon, an analyst at Bourges, France-based farm adviser Offre et Demande Agricole, said by phone. The wheat “is growing rapidly. The need for water is now.”
Germany’s wheat harvest will be less than forecast a month ago as a lack of rain in March and April is expected to hurt yields, Berlin-based agriculture group Deutscher Raiffeisenverband e.V. said today.
“In France, the situation isn’t yet critical, but it’s delicate,” Simon said. “For the wheat, we’re really entering a difficult period.”
Wheat for May delivery climbed 3.3 percent to 246 euros a ton in the French capital.
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