Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. corn and wheat futures fell on Monday to their lowest levels since October, on outlooks for speedy corn plantings in the U.S. Midwest and crop-friendly rains in the southern Plains wheat belt.
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn futures extended declines to their sixth straight session amid forecasts for dry weather this week that will allow farmers to work fields. Analysts polled by Reuters expected the U.S. Department of Agriculture later in the day to report U.S. corn plantings as of Sunday at 21 per cent complete, above last year’s pace.
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“We could have two solid weeks of planting, with some scattered showers in between, which would be pretty much ideal,” said Jefferies Bache grains analyst Shawn McCambridge, adding that investors were bearish due to the good U.S. weather.
“With the lower trend, the funds continue to accumulate short positions. They have done so over the last couple of Commitments of Traders reports, and I don’t think they are done quite yet.”
After the close of trading on Friday, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission report showed speculative investors, including hedge funds, adding to net short positions in each crop.
On Monday, several CBOT wheat contracts notched contract lows at mid-morning, pressured by rainfall in Texas and Oklahoma that could boost yields for U.S. wheat varieties that were too high priced to compete in global export markets.
CBOT May wheat settled 15-3/4 cents, or 3.1 per cent, lower at $4.70-1/4 per bushel, after earlier reaching a contract low of $4.69-1/2 (all figures US$). On a continuous wheat chart, prices fell to the lowest level since Oct. 1.
CBOT May corn eased 3-3/4 cents to $3.60-3/4, the lowest since Oct. 13.
Worries the U.S. avian flu outbreak could reduce demand for animal feed also weighed on prices. The outbreak of H5N2 across several parts of the U.S. has led to the slaughter of millions of turkeys and chickens as commercial farms try to control the spread of the virus.
Soybean futures edged higher, lifted in part by a USDA announcement that exporters sold 158,000 tonnes of U.S. soybeans to unknown destinations.
Soybeans for May delivery were up 3-1/4 cents to $9.73 per bushel, near the roughly two-week high reached on Thursday.
— Michael Hirtzer reports on grain markets for Reuters from Chicago. Additional reporting for Reuters by Julie Ingerswen in Chicago, Ahmed Aboulenein in London and Naveen Thukral from Singapore.
