BEIJING (Reuters) - Snow across drought-hit parts of north and central China brought some relief from a drought threatening winter wheat crops that has raised speculation of higher global prices, state forecasters said on Thursday.
The welcome, but so far limited, snowfalls came after the Chinese government said keeping up grain output was important to defeating inflationary expectations driven by rising food prices.
Snow was recorded in the capital Beijing, and parts of Henan, Anhui and Jiangsu provinces, some of which have suffered from months without precipitation, Sun Jun, a senior forecaster for China's meteorological service told state radio.
"Because the precipitation will be concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, it will have a limited effect on mitigating the drought in northern areas," said Sun.
Those northern areas include Henan and Shandong provinces.
Sun said the snowfalls could be as much as 8 millimeters in some areas, but 10 millimeters was needed to have more than a limited effect.
The Chinese capital's chief forecaster said the same.
"As the precipitation is small, it will have limited effect on easing drought," Song Jisong, the Beijing meteorological bureau's chief weather forecaster, was quoted by the Xinhua news agency as saying.
China weighs heavily in calculations of global grain demand, and traders believe an erosion of the nation's self-sufficiency could ripple through the global wheat market, driving up prices.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reportedly is also worried that any fall in grain output could flow into higher inflationary expectations, a big headache for policy-makers.
"Maintaining stable growth in this year's grain production is extremely important for properly managing inflationary expectations, stabilizing the general level of consumer prices and achieving steady and relatively fast growth, as well as social harmony and stability," said the official report of a central government meeting chaired by Wen on Wednesday.
China harvested 115.1 million tonnes in 2010, 95 percent of winter wheat -- the crop that is now at risk. Winter wheat is planted in October and harvested in May and June.
U.S. wheat futures have been near a 30-month high, buoyed by strong demand and worries about threats to output in China and the United States.
Chinese wheat futures rose by the 7.0 percent daily limit on Wednesday after a week-long holiday. That rise came despite the latest hike in Chinese interest rates late on Tuesday, a policy measure seen to be partly aimed at food inflation, which hit 9.6 percent in December.
More precipitation may be on the way, although not necessarily in the regions most in need.
The national forecasting service predicted a cold front in coming days could bring small to moderate amounts of rain, snow and sleet to parts of northwest, northern and central China, the China News Service reported.
(Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Ken Wills)
