(Reuters) – U.S. corn futures hit a fresh five-month low on Tuesday as heavy rains across key growing regions in the United States boosted the condition of the crop, after the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast near record production.
FUNDAMENTALS
* Chicago Board Of Trade front-month corn fell 0.47 percent to $4.22-1/4 a bushel, just above the session low of $4.21-1/2 a bushel. Corn slumped 4.2 percent in the previous session when prices hit a low of $4.22-1/2 a bushel, the lowest since January 21.
* September wheat rose 0.3 percent to $5.79-1/4 a bushel, having closed down 2.7 percent on Monday.
* November soybeans was little changed at $11.56-1/2 a bushel, having slumped 5.8 percent on Wednesday.
* USDA forecast soybean plantings up 11 percent on the year to a record high 84.8 million acres. Projected harvested acreage will be a record by more than 7.4 million acres.
* USDA reported June 1 soybean stocks at 405 million bushels, above the average trade estimate of 378 million.
* USDA’s corn planting forecast of 91.6 million acres implies a crop of almost 13.9 billion bushels, just below the record, using a projected yield of 165.3 bushels per acre.
* U.S. corn stocks as of June 1 were 3.85 billion bushels, up 39 percent from a year ago, and above the trade guess of 3.72 billion.
* The health of the U.S. corn crop improved and soybean ratings held steady at their highest in 20 years due to warm temperatures and rain in key production areas of the Midwest, the U.S. government said on Monday.
* U.S. all-wheat acres were up less than 1 percent on the year. “Other spring” wheat plantings topped trade expectations while durum acreage was flat on the year.
* USDA’s June 1 wheat stocks figure will also become 2013/14 ending stocks, and at 590 million
bushels was close to its current forecast of 593 million. March-May wheat disappearance slipped 10 percent on the year.
MARKET NEWS
* The dollar struggled to get off a one-month low against a basket of major currencies early on Monday, having posted its biggest weekly fall in over two months after a batch of disappointing U.S. data.
* Brent crude fell toward $112 a barrel on Monday, hitting an 18-day low as did U.S. crude near $105, as investors grew less worried about potential supply disruptions from Iraq.
* The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite indexes wrapped up a sixth straight quarter of gains on Monday, a streak not seen in more than 14 years.
