(Businessweek) – Corn extended its biggest weekly drop since November as rain in Argentina may aid crops and on speculation that output in the U.S., the world’s top producer, would further increase this year.
The contract for March delivery lost as much as 0.4 percent to $4.225 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade from the close on Jan. 17, and was at $4.23 by 10:49 a.m. in Singapore. Prices fell 2 percent last week, the most since the period ended Nov. 1. Markets were closed yesterday for Martin Luther King Day.
Rain is expected to return to central and southeast Buenos Aires this week, easing crop stress, and improvement is likely in Entre Rios and Santa Fe about the middle of the week, according to MDA Information Systems LLC. U.S. corn production in 2014 may total 13.985 billion bushels, higher than a previous estimate of 13.74 billion bushels, Informa Economics Inc. said Jan. 17. Farmers collected a record 13.925 billion bushels in 2013, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.
Soybeans for March delivery dropped as much as 0.6 percent to $13.0925 a bushel and were at $13.1125. Brazil’s Mato Grosso, the country’s largest producer, may get rain this week and crop conditions are generally very good, weather forecaster Somar Meteorologia said yesterday. Brazil is the world’s biggest soybean exporter, USDA data show.
Wheat for March delivery lost 0.3 percent and gained 0.4 percent before trading little changed at $5.6375 a bushel.
