(Bloomberg) – Corn fell for the first time in seven days on speculation that improving weather in the U.S., the world’s largest grower, will increase supplies while demand from China may slow.
The contract for delivery in March retreated as much as 0.3 percent to $4.3075 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and was at $4.31 at 11.21 a.m. in Singapore. Futures gained 2.1 percent this month after a 40 percent slump last year.
Wetter and warmer weather from late April to May will aid U.S. crop planting after a cool, dry start to the sowing, said Drew Lerner, the president of World Weather Inc. in Kansas. Timely rains and prospects for cooler weather will aid crops in the central U.S. from May to July, while hot, dry weather from Texas to Alabama will threaten plants, he said yesterday.
“Investors remain concerned over weak demand from China after it rejected cargoes from the U.S.,” said Vanessa Tan, an analyst at Phillip Futures Pte. in Singapore. Improving weather conditions in the U.S. and Brazil also raised speculation of larger production, she said.
China rejected 601,000 metric tons of unapproved, genetically modified corn shipments in 2013, Xinhua reported this month. Shipments will decline this month as U.S. suppliers refrain from sending cargoes to China on concern that cargoes containing unapproved MIR 162 variety may get rejected again, Meng Jinhui, analyst at Cofco Futures Co., said last week.
Soybeans for March delivery declined for a second day, dropping 0.2 percent to $12.835 a bushel. Wheat was little changed at $5.655 a bushel.
