Grain's Prise on the Top

Wheat for May delivery rose to $12.145 a bushel in after-hours electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade.

 Global wheat stockpiles will probably
fall to a 30-year low this year, while corn inventories are headed
for the lowest since 1984, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said .
Wheat prices have more than doubled in the past year as adverse
weather reduced output in Europe, Canada and Australia, raising the
cost of bread, cakes and cookies. The gains have stoked food
inflation around the world and made central bankers cautious about
cutting interest rates to stimulate growth.

Export sales from the U.S., the world's
largest shipper of the grain, are up 56 percent since June 1 compared
with the same period a year earlier.

The rise in wheat prices has prompted
some governments, including China, to impose export taxes on grains
to ensure adequate domestic supply and curb price rises. Kazakhstan,
the world's fifth-largest wheat exporter, said it plans to impose
export tariffs.