Wheat rose for the second this week as investors speculated that bad weather may reduce the global crop supply.

World production will rise to 645 million to 655 million metric tons, about 8 percent more than last year, Joe Glauber, the Agriculture Department's acting chief economist, said today.

Wheat futures for May delivery rose 12 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $10.455 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. Most- active futures have more than doubled in the past year and reached a record $11.53 on Feb. 11 as world demand was forecast to exceed production for the seventh time in eight years.

Last week rain in India and Pakistan improved the conditions, however it did not improve the dry soil.

World inventories of wheat are expected to fall 12 percent to 109.7 million metric tons by the end of the marketing year on May 31, the lowest since 1978, the USDA said Feb. 8.

Wheat reserves this year are forecast to decline 47 percent from a record 208.5 million in 2000.

Pakistan India