RIYADH: Benchmark wheat in Chicago climbed above $8 a bushel for the first time in almost nine years amid increasing pressures threatening to raise food prices all over the world, Bloomberg reported.
This comes as importers boosted purchases amid adverse weather conditions and soaring fertilizer prices that risk denting next year’s harvests.
Other grain-related futures also rose in the US and Europe, with Paris milled wheat futures nearing all-time highs, and Minneapolis spring wheat prices at their highest since April 2008.
Saudi Arabia’s state buyer booked 1.3 million tons of wheat in a tender this past weekend, almost double the amount expected, while top importer Egypt bought 180,000 tons of Russian wheat less than a week after its largest purchase of the season.
The latest United Nations figures show food prices at a decade-high amid harvest setbacks and supply-chain disruptions. Wheat is on its longest streak of monthly gains since 2007, Bloomberg said.
Some farmers are now contending with dry soil at planting time, as well as a run up in fertilizer prices. The world’s largest phosphate producer, Mosaic Co., said it expects fertilizer prices to continue surging.
