Cepea flagged the setback to Brazil’s wheat production prospects from weather extremes, saying that a fall in domestic prices would have been even larger were it not for supply concerns. The research institute, attached to Sao Paulo University, said that while some areas of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil second-ranked producing state, had received rains, crops in only some regions would be helped by the moisture, with crop in other areas too far developed to benefit. By contrast, in Parana, the biggest producing state, heavy rains, with hail in some areas have certainly damaged crops, some of which were in the final stages of development. Moisture falling on ripe kernels tends to encourage sprouting, which cuts milling quality, rather than boosting yields.