A fall in US inventories of wheat to a 60-year low drove prices of the grain sharply higher yesterday to a record, intensifying fears of rising global food price inflation.

US wheat futures - global benchmarks for the grain - have jumped by their daily trading limit each day this week. Prices for Minneapolis wheat, the US variety most suitable for making flour, rose 10.7 per cent on the week, extending its price surge since the beginning of the year to 50 per cent.