Wheat climbed for a second day after tumbling to the lowest level in 19 months on concern freezing weather may damage crops in the U.S., the world’s top exporter.

The contract for delivery in March advanced as much as 0.8 percent to $6.105 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, before trading at $6.095 at 2:43 p.m. in Singapore. Futures slumped to $5.95 on Jan. 2, the lowest level since May 2012.

The coldest air in almost 20 years is sweeping over the central U.S. toward the East Coast, threatening to topple temperature records, ignite energy demand and damage Great Plains winter wheat. Hard-freeze warnings and watches, which are alerts for farmers, stretch from Texas to central Florida. As much as 20 percent of winter wheat in the Great Plains may be damaged by the freeze, according to MDA Weather Services in Bethesda, Maryland.

Supporting the wheat market today appears to be “fears that horrendous cold weather forecast in the U.S. could result in some winter-kill,” said Luke Mathews, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “Whether that damage is significant or not, only time will tell.”

U.S. winter-wheat acreage climbed to the highest in six years as improved soil moisture and high crop-insurance guarantees encouraged farmers to boost sowings. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release its estimates on plantings and inventories on Jan. 10.

Wheat stockpiles are estimated to have dropped to 1.417 billion bushels on Dec. 1 from 1.854 billion on Sept. 1. Corn and soybean inventories are expected to increase, the survey showed.

Corn for March delivery advanced 0.6 percent to $4.26 a bushel. Soybeans for March delivery added 0.1 percent to $12.73 a bushel.

Source - http://www.bloomberg.com/