Wheat Prices Hit Two-Year High After U.N. Warns of China Drought

Wheat prices reached their highest prices in more than two years after a U.N. agency said China may face a wheat-supply shortage because of a recent drought, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Soft red winter wheat for March delivery on the Chicago Board of Trade reached $8.8075 a bushel earlier Tuesday, which was up 22 cents for the day and marked its highest intraday trading level since August 2008, the Journal said. Wheat futures prices on both the Minneapolis Grain Exchange and Kansas City Board of Trade also jumped Tuesday.

Asia's wheat supply may be compromised by a drought in China's primary winter wheat-producing region, the Journal said, citing a report from the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization.

Commodity prices have spiked in recent weeks on harsh weather that has hit various parts of the world. Sugar prices last week surged to a three-decade high because of supply constraints stemming from cyclones and floods that have recently hit Australia, the world's third-largest sugar producer behind Brazil and Thailand.