Wheat speculators most bearish on record as Kansas drought eases

The rains that drenched dry wheat fields in Kansas are dousing prospects that the grain will emerge from a bear market.

Improved soil moisture boosted prospects for crops in the US, the largest exporter, at a time when global inventories already were set to reach a four-year high. Speculators expanded their record bets on lower prices for a fourth week, before a field survey showed farmers will boost output by 17 percent in Kansas, the top US grower of winter wheat.

The surplus has intensified competition among suppliers, with Russia and Romania beating out US and French shippers in a tender last week by Egypt, the biggest buyer. Sellers are undercutting each other on prices, and American exports are trailing last season's pace by 25 percent, government figures show. Rain also is improving the grain crops in Russia, the fourth-largest exporter, where the government is poised to lift a tax on shipments that had slowed sales.