By Luzi Ann Javier March 1 (Bloomberg) -- Corn and soybeans advanced as higher crude-oil prices helped boost the appeal of crops used in biofuels and on concern snow may delay plantings in the U.S., the world’s largest grower and exporter of both crops. Corn for May delivery gained 0.7 percent to $3.9175 a bushel at 10:20 a.m. in London after climbing as high as $3.92 earlier, the highest price for the most-active contract since Jan. 12. Soybeans for delivery in the same month advanced as much as 0.7 percent to $9.68 a bushel before trading at $9.655. Heavy snow in saturated soils increases the risk of flooding in the U.S. corn belt, forecaster Telvent DTN Inc. said in a Feb. 26 report. Heavy rains or flooding may make the fields too muddy for farm machinery, delaying plantings. “The continued weather concerns in America, specifically prospects of delayed corn and soybean plantings, are supporting those particular markets,” Luke Mathews, an agricultural commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney, said by phone today. Crude oil for April delivery rose as much as 1.2 percent to $80.62 a barrel in New York on expectations economic growth in the U.S., the world’s largest energy consumer, and in the emerging markets of Asia will boost demand. The contract last traded at $80.49 a barrel. Gains in grains and oilseeds are “certainly in line with what we’ve been seeing in the crude oil market,” CBA’s Mathews said. “That’s obviously lending support.” Wheat Gains Wheat for May delivery advanced as much as 1.3 percent to $5.26 a bushel, the highest price for the most-active contract since Jan. 14, and was last at $5.205. Russia, the world’s third-largest wheat exporter, plans to ship 1 million metric tons of grains to Southeast Asia this year as it aims to become one of the top sellers to the region, an executive said. “It’s going to be a main market for us in the next five years,” Andrey Skrurikhin, a director of the Russian Grain Union, said in an interview on Feb. 26 in Singapore, where he was attending a grain conference. Russia is seeking to increase exports to Southeast Asia as part of an effort to expand its share of the global grain trade. The region accounts for at least 10 percent of the 121.6 million tons of global wheat imports forecast by the U.S. Department of Agriculture this year. To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net

Source