LONDON, April 16: The price of wheat held close to a three-year high here on Monday, owing to forecasts of falling supplies amid freezing weather in key exporter the United States, analysts said.

On the LIFFE, London’s futures exchange, the price per ton of wheat for May delivery soared as high as 101 pounds on Monday.

The contract had closed at 100 pounds on Friday, which marked the highest finish since April 2004.

“Global supplies generally are pretty tight this year,” said Amy Reynolds, analyst at the London-based International Grains Council (IGC).

She added: “What we have also seen in the last couple of weeks was rather unfavourable weather in the United States. We have had some very cold temperatures which analysts believe have probably damaged the crop.

“What was looking like a fairly large harvest in the United States might not happen, which will make the supply and demand situation for the next marketing year (2007/2008) rather tight.”

The IGC estimates that world wheat production would amount to 590 million tons in the 2006-07 cycle, which was 5.0 per cent less than the previous harvest.

Demand will outstrip supply by about 17 million tons in the current harvest year, according to IGC data.—AFP