Chicago wheat at new peak on Indian imports

Wheat futures in Chicago rose to a record, extending gains for a fifth day, as importers including India, Taiwan and Japan, seek to buy the grain and adverse weather reduces supply in major producing countries.

Wheat for December delivery gained 8.25 cents, or 1.1 per cent, to a record $7.40 a bushel, extending a rally for a fifth day, in after-hours electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade at 4:19 p.m. Singapore time. Wheat rose 3.9 per cent yesterday on increased US exports.

India, the world's second-biggest wheat consumer, is seeking to buy an "unspecified" quantity of the grain to bolster reserves, a government official said today.

Global inventories will fall to 114.8 million tonnes by May 31, the lowest in 26 years, the US Department of Agriculture said on August 10.

In the export market, the Taiwan Flour Millers Association, which represents 34 grain users, reissued a tender for tomorrow to import 92,000 tonnes of US No. 1 wheat after it failed to buy the grain on August 21.

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries is holding a milling wheat tender today to buy 30,500 tonnes under the so-called simultaneous buy and sell system, introduced to loosen government controls over imports.