WSJ – Wheat’s Surge to Pinch Wallets

CHICAGO — Consumers in the coming months will have to pony up a little more money at the grocery store for flour, bread and other baked goods as record wheat futures prices are driving up food costs, analysts said.

Wheat futures have soared this summer amid serious crop losses in key growing areas of the Northern Hemisphere, including Europe and the Black Sea region. Dryness in Australia also threatens to slash production Down Under for the second year in a row.

Trader anxiety over shrinking world supplies lifted nearby-month Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures to a record of $8.10 per bushel, exceeding the previous high of $8.05 set Friday. The contract settled at $8.07, up 40 cents. A year ago, it traded at $4.04.

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