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February 28th, 2013
Corn Futures – South Korea, Asia’s second-biggest corn buyer, may reduce imports from the U.S. for a third year as it increases cheaper purchases from South America, the largest local feed miller said.
Shipments including feed and food may fall below 2 million metric tons, from 2.84 million tons in 2012, Lee Tae Woong, a general manager at Nonghyup Feed Inc., said in an interview in Seoul on Feb. 26. Last year’s imports were the smallest amount since 2005, Korean customs data show.
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February 13th, 2013
Corn futures headed for the longest stretch of declines since 1980 in Chicago and wheat traded at a seven- month low on speculation rains in Brazil and the U.S. will help crop development.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms will aid crops in southern Brazil this week, and parts of the central and southern plains in the U.S. may have some rain next week, forecaster DTN said in a report yesterday. Brazil is set to overtake Argentina as the second-ranking exporter of corn, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The U.S. ships the most wheat.
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January 29th, 2013
Corn futures rose for a second day in Chicago on speculation dry weather may hurt crop yields in Argentina, the world’s second-biggest exporter of the grain. Wheat advanced.
Central and southern areas of Argentina may see only a few light showers today and conditions might stay dry through Jan. 31, when temperatures may climb as high as 99 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius), forecaster DTN said today. Some regions might see some showers starting Feb. 1 before dryness returns Feb. 3. Argentina’s corn crop may total 26.5 million metric tons, the Rosario Grains Exchange said Jan. 24. That would miss the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 28 million-ton forecast.
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February 22nd, 2012
Corn Futures – Corn imports by China, the world’s second-largest consumer, may surge sevenfold to a record 28 million metric tons by 2015-2016 as local production fails to keep pace with increased demand, according to INTL FCStone Inc. (INTL)
Imports may gain from 4 million tons in 2011-2012 and reach 13 million tons by 2012-2013, Mike O’Dea, senior risk manager, told a conference in Singapore. The local harvest may reach 187 million tons next year, 6.5 percent less than projected demand, according to a presentation from O’Dea.
The country’s looming structural corn deficit may support prices and boost global food costs. China should increase its agricultural imports to help feed its 1.3 billion people and ease pressure on the environment, a state-affiliated researcher said last year. China needed to maintain reserves of 50 million to 60 million tons to guard against disruptions, O’Dea said.
“We’re projecting a doubling of imports this year, and doubling again next year because they’ve got to maintain that reserve stock,” said O’Dea, who’s been in the grains industry for three decades. The government sold some of its corn stockpiles last year to combat inflation, he said.
Corn futures for delivery in May was unchanged at $6.4125 per bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade at 12:52 p.m. in Singapore. The price has declined 0.8 percent this year. Global ending stockpiles may be 125.3 million tons this year, the lowest level in five years, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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February 16th, 2012
Corn futures rebounded from a three- week low on signs of rising demand for supplies from the U.S., the world’s biggest exporter. Soybeans fell, and wheat rose.
U.S. exporters sold 1.07 million metric tons of corn in the week ended Feb. 9, the most since October, the government said. Futures dropped in the past two days on speculation that farmers this year may plant the most acres since 1944. The U.S. and China will sign a five-year accord to cooperate on farm trade, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said today.
“Exports have been considerably better on these breaks” in prices, Jason Britt, the president of Central States Commodities Inc., a brokerage in Kansas City, Missouri, said in a telephone interview. “Everyone is talking about this big acreage to be forthcoming, but you can’t sit here and slam the price every day when we haven’t raised one bushel yet.”
Corn futures for May delivery rose 1.4 percent to settle at $6.3975 a bushel at 1:15 p.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Earlier, the price touched $6.26, the lowest for a most-active contract since Jan. 25.
Soybean futures for May delivery dropped 0.3 percent to $12.65 a bushel in Chicago. The price has advanced 4.7 percent this year on mounting concern that dry weather in South America will erode output.
Some growing areas in Brazil may get rain beginning on Feb. 20, Telvent DTN said. U.S. exporters sold 614,654 tons of soybeans in the week ended Feb. 9, down 6.6 percent from a week earlier, the Department of Agriculture said.
“Export sales were poor, really disappointing for what was expected,” Chad Henderson, an analyst at Prime Agricultural Consultants Inc. in Brookfield, Wisconsin, said in a telephone interview. “The South American weather forecast is calling for some rain, so that’s negative.”
Wheat futures for May delivery rose 0.2 percent to $6.3525 a bushel in Chicago. Egypt, the world’s biggest importer, bought 180,000 tons from the U.S. in a tender today.
Corn is the biggest U.S. crop, valued at $66.7 billion in 2010, followed by soybeans, hay and wheat, government data show.
- Whitney McFerron in Chicago at Bloomberg.
February 8th, 2012
Corn futures rose in Chicago on speculation the U.S. Department of Agriculture may lower its estimate for global stockpiles. Soybeans and wheat gained.
The USDA may cut its estimate for corn inventories this year by 2.9 percent from a January forecast to 124.44 million metric tons (4.9 billion bushels) as drought curbs production in South America, according to the average estimate of 15 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The latest supply outlook is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington tomorrow.
“The trade seems quite intent upon seeing a report that has a relatively large cut in the corn carryout,” economist Dennis Gartman said in his daily Gartman Letter. “From what we’ve conjectured, it appears that the cut has to be at least 50 million to 60 million bushels from the department’s report of a month ago.”
Corn futures for March delivery climbed 0.7 percent to $6.47 a bushel by 1:15 p.m. London time on the Chicago Board of Trade. The grain rose for the first day this week.
Output in Argentina, the second-largest corn exporter after the U.S., will probably reach 22.3 million tons, below the 26 million tons predicted by the USDA last month, the average estimate of 22 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg showed. In Brazil, the fourth-biggest exporter, output will probably be 59.6 million tons, versus the USDA’s 61 million-ton forecast in January, it showed.
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January 27th, 2012
Corn futures advanced, heading for the biggest gain in five weeks, as concerns that a renewed heat wave in Argentina may damage crops boosted demand for U.S. grain. Soybeans gained.
The weather pattern known as La Nina has brought hot, dry conditions to Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, scorching recently planted crops. Temperatures will exceed 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in some of Argentina’s corn-growing areas through Feb. 2, the Buenos Aires Cereals Exchange said yesterday. Rain will be scarce in most areas, said climatologist Eduardo Sierra.
“The market is certainly worried,” said Nick Higgins, an analyst at Rabobank International in London. “In the $6.40-$6.50 a bushel range the market is accounting for substantial reductions in the 11/12 corn crop for South America.”
Corn futures for March-delivery advanced 0.7 percent to $6.39 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade by 11:43 a.m. in London. The most-traded contract is set for a 4.5 percent gain this week, the biggest weekly advance since the week to Dec. 23. Futures rose 2 percent last week.
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January 24th, 2012
South Africa, the continent’s largest corn producer, may plant 11 percent more land with the grain this season after prices increased.
Plantings may expand to 2.63 million hectares (6.5 million acres) from 2.37 million hectares, Marda Scheepers, an official at the government’s Crop Estimates Committee, said by phone from Pretoria today. That compares with the 2.57 million-hectare median estimate of nine traders surveyed by Bloomberg Jan. 19.
“The reason for the advance is an increase in prices compared with the same period a year ago,” Scheepers said. “We’ve seen a decrease in the area planted with sorghum as farmers switched to corn.”
White-corn prices have risen 38 percent over the past six months on the South African Futures Exchange. The grain for March delivery closed at 2,686 rand ($337) a metric ton today.
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January 21st, 2012
Corn Futures – The use of corn to make ethanol in the U.S. is helping to lift the grain price worldwide, said Jose Graziano da Silva, the new director general of the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.
“FAO has been raising its voice against using food to produce bio energy,” Graziano da Silva told 64 agriculture ministers in Berlin yesterday. That’s “especially” the case for corn in the U.S. and oilseeds in Europe, he said.
Corn futures closed at $6.115 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Jan. 20, almost triple the $2.1175 a bushel for the grain a decade ago. Part of the U.S. corn production is used to make ethanol for blending into gasoline as a fuel while rapeseed is used in Europe to make biodiesel.
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November 30th, 2011
Corn futures fell in Chicago, extending a monthly decline, as Morgan Stanley forecast pressure on prices next year from higher South American exports of the grain.
U.S. corn shipments, the world’s largest, may slump 21 percent in the 2011-12 season to 1.45 billion bushels, the least since 1985-86, according to Morgan Stanley. That’s smaller than a Nov. 9 forecast of 1.6 billion bushels by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Corn prices will likely come under pressure in the second half of the year as rebounding production in South America, and ultimately the U.S., increases supply,” analysts led by Hussein Allidina wrote in the report e-mailed today, referring to 2012.
Corn futures for March-delivery dropped 1 percent to $5.995 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade by 12:58 p.m. Paris time. Prices are down 7.3 percent this month.
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