Wheat futures add nearly one percent

Wheat futures rose nearly one percent in American trade as the dollar index hit the lowest since November 9, following earlier data from the US, the world's largest economy. 

As of 08:56 GMT, wheat futures due on September 15 rose 0.75% to $469.00 a bushel from the opening of $466.00, while the dollar index fell 1.08% to 96.37 from the opening of 97.43. 

The US Department of Agriculture's weekly report bolstered wheat prices after showing drops in spring harvest conditions, with a downgrade for the classification of spring wheat in the year 2016-2017 by one percent from last week estimates to 40% as good or excellent, compared to 72% in the same period of last year. 

The US winter wheat harvest season has officially started this month, as analysts expect the smallest harvest in 2016-2017 since 1909, at 1.82 billion bushels, which is 21% lower than last year, while farmers used up 32 million acres of land for wheat this year, down 10% y/y and the second lowest ever. 

Finally, global wheat output has risen by 3% in the last five months, while average consumption grew below 2% on average, as China alone accounts for 45% of global wheat inventories, rising by 100 million tonnes, while Rabobank expects wheat prices to rise between 10% and 15% in the next 12 months to $4.9 by mid 2018.