Russian drought prompts export ban, driving up wheat prices; weather boosts other crop prices

Wheat prices zoomed to a 23-month high today as Russia said it would ban grain exports starting Aug. 15 in the wake of a severe drought that has sparked deadly fires in the country, the world's third-largest wheat grower. Also, Bloomberg reports "Dry weather in Kazakhstan, Ukraine and the European Union and excess rain in Canada are draining wheat stockpiles and dragging up prices of rice, soybeans and corn."

"Wheat for December delivery, the contract with the largest open interest, advanced as much as 7.9 percent to $8.155 a bushel in Chicago today, the highest level since August 2008," Bloomberg reports. “Wheat prices may continue rising till the end of August,” Chris Yoo, manager of the global derivatives team at Samsung Futures Inc. in Seoul, told Bloomberg. “Consumers are likely to switch to consume rice.”