CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed sharply higher on Wednesday, with the May contract hitting a two-month top on a mix of technical buying and global demand for bread as the coronavirus prompts consumer stockpiling, analysts said.

CBOT May soft red winter wheat settled up 18-1/2 cents at $5.80 per bushel after reaching $5.83-1/4, the contract’s highest level since Jan. 22.

The CBOT May contract gained against back months on spreads, reflecting tight supplies of US soft red winter wheat, as well as financial traders’ buying the contract as a proxy for global wheat.

K.C. May hard red winter wheat ended up 10-1/4 cents at $5.01 a bushel and MGEX May spring wheat rose 2-1/2 cents to $5.37-1/2.

Ahead of Thursday’s weekly US Department of Agriculture export sales report, analysts expected the government to report export sales of US wheat in the week to March 19 at 350,000 to 950,000 tonnes.

Iraq’s trade ministry said it needed to import 1 million tonnes of wheat and 250,000 tonnes of rice for its food rationing program and to boost strategic stocks.

Algerian state grains agency OAIC bought around 240,000 tonnes of optional-origin milling wheat in an international tender, European traders said.—Reuters