Corn Drops on Speculation USDA May Raise U.S. Stockpile Outlook

(Businessweek) – Corn declined for a fifth day, the longest losing streak since December, on speculation that the U.S. government will raise its estimate for stockpiles in the country, the world’s largest shipper.

The contract for March delivery fell as much as 0.3 percent to $7.2025 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, and was at $7.2075 at 10:38 a.m. in Singapore. The most-active price declined 2.4 percent in the four days to yesterday’s close.

Inventories in the U.S. will probably total 616 million bushels by Aug. 31, more than the 602 million predicted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture last month, according to the average estimate of 31 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The outlook on U.S. and world supplies will be updated tomorrow.

“No one really wants to hold a big position through the USDA reports,” Victor Thianpiriya, an analyst at Australia & New Zealand  Banking Group Ltd., said from Singapore. “There is obviously a risk that the USDA raises its estimate for carry-out for corn,” he said, referring to U.S. supply left in warehouses before the start of the next marketing year on Sept. 1.

Soybeans for March delivery fell as much as 0.6 percent to $14.785 a bushel in Chicago and were at $14.7975. That put the oilseed at 2.05 times the price of corn. Yesterday, the soybean-corn ratio was at 2.0588, the highest level since Nov. 2.

Wheat for March delivery declined as much as 0.4 percent to $7.5875 a bushel in Chicago and traded at $7.5975.