GRAINS-Paris wheat sets new record highs as traders fret on world supplies

By Gus Trompiz and Colin Packham

PARIS/CANBERRA, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Paris wheat futures rose to new record peaks on Tuesday, while Chicago wheat consolidated near a nine-year high, as quality risks in Australia’s harvest and a deterioration in U.S. growing conditions kept attention on tightening global supplies.

Corn and soybeans edged lower, pressured by a dollar rally and lower crude oil as Washington announced a release of U.S. strategic reserves. FRX/O/R

On Paris-based Euronext, December wheat BL2Z1 rose to a new all-time high for a Euronext contract at 312.25 euros ($351.06) a tonne.

The more active March contract BL2H2 set a new record for a second-month position BL2c2 at 309.25 euros. By 1220 GMT, it was up 1.1% at 309.00 euros.

An earlier 16-month low for the euro against the dollar EUR= helped keep Paris futures firm.

On the Chicago Board Of Trade, the most active wheat futures Wv1 inched up a quarter of a cent to $8.57-3/4 a bushel. On Monday, prices hit their highest since December 2012 at $8.59-1/2.

“There is no end in sight to the price rally in the near future,” Commerzbank said of wheat, citing factors including harvest rain in Australia, flood disruption to Canadian exports and the prospect of rising export taxes in Russia.

In Australia, heavy rains in eastern regions are threatening to damage crops, adding to quality concerns after early harvest results in the west showed disappointing protein content.

Dry conditions in some U.S. winter wheat belts have also fuelled early worries about next year’s harvests.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said on Monday that 44% of the U.S. winter wheat crop was in a good to excellent condition, down from 46% a week earlier. Analysts on average had expected an unchanged score.

“There are concerns about supplies all over the world, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture condition report has added to those,” said a Melbourne-based grains trader.

CBOT soybean futures Sv1 were down 0.6% at $12.66-3/4 a bushel, and corn Cv1 was 0.5% lower at $5.81-1/2.

The dollar’s rally made U.S. commodities more expensive, while easing oil prices could curb margins for making biofuel from feedstocks like corn and soybean oil.

The USDA said the U.S. corn and soybean harvests were both 95% complete by Sunday, slightly below analysts’ average expectation.

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