Wheat supplies could hit 59-year low

Robust demand after two years of weak harvests should drop stockpiles to lowest level since 1949, government report says.

NEW YORK (AP) -- U.S. wheat stockpiles may shrink to the lowest level in 59 years due to robust demand for the grain following two years of weak harvests worldwide, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday in a report.
The USDA projects wheat supplies for the 2007-2008 crop year will fall to 307 million bushels, down 55 million bushels from its estimate last month, due to the fast pace of export shipments. Foreign appetite for the country's wheat has surged after poor weather damaged harvests around the world this year. Record high prices have done little to dampen demand.
Stockpiles of wheat at the crop year's end would be the lowest since 1949.
A bushel of wheat rose the 30-cent maximum Thursday to settle at $8.83 on the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat fetched as little as $5 a bushel in May.
Wheat's the new top of the crops The USDA also raised its expectations for corn production this year and pared down its estimates for the soybean crop. The agency expects a 13.32 billion bushel corn crop, up slightly from its earlier 13.3 billion-bushel forecast. Soybean production is expected just shy of 2.6 billion bushels, down 21 million bushels from an earlier estimate.
Corn futures finished down 3.5 cents at $3.4375 a bushel Thursday on the CBOT, while soybean futures closed up 13.25 cents to $9.815 a bushel.