Southeast Asia has experienced droughty conditions the past several months and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for the Asia/Pacific region says it is part of a longer-term meteorological trend. The change is most adversely impacting rice production and will likely benefit wheat.  Southeast Asia has been importing more wheat than corn but countries in the region have shown over the past decade a faster growing interest in corn for livestock feed. That is now likely to change.

The region has already shown a strong preference for wheat as a food ingredient with demand for this commodity growing at an average pace of 6 percent per year over the last decade. This contrasts with a relatively flat per capita market for r...