CBOT wheat closes higher on short-covering, decline in US crop rating

CHICAGO, May 20 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures surged to a two-week high on Tuesday, as a weaker dollar and unexpected decline in U.S. crop ratings encouraged more short-covering after prices hit a five-year low last week, market analysts said.

• CBOT July soft red winter wheat WN25 closed up 17 cents at $5.46 a bushel - with the most-active contract Wv1 touching the highest price seen since May 5.

• K.C. July hard red winter wheat KWN25 ended up 13-1/2 cents at $5.36-1/4 a bushel, and Minneapolis July spring wheat MWEN25 rose 12-1/4 cents to $5.97-3/4 a bushel.

• In a weekly report issued after Monday's close, the U.S. Department of Agriculture rated 52% of the U.S. winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition, down 2 percentage points from last week and below analyst expectations.

• China's Central Meteorological Observatory had warned that dry, hot winds this week could damage winter wheat crops in major producing areas, including Henan - a key wheat-growing province known as the country's granary.