(Businessweek) – Corn futures fell in Chicago, extending last week’s loss, as traders awaited a government report today expected to show record U.S. production will be even bigger than estimated last month. Soybeans gained.
U.S. farmers may harvest 14.556 billion bushels of corn and 3.969 billion bushels of soybeans this year, the most ever and topping previous U.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts for 14.475 billion and 3.927 billion bushels, a Bloomberg survey showed. The USDA is set to release new estimates later today. World inventories of both crops also will be larger than the earlier forecast, the survey showed.
“Improved U.S. and global supply continues to pressure ag prices,” Morgan Stanley analysts including Bennett Meier wrote in an e-mailed report dated yesterday. “2014 marked a second consecutive banner year for U.S. agricultural production, with farmers harvesting record corn and soybean crops.”
Corn for December delivery fell 0.2 percent to $3.6675 a bushel at 5:46 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices lost 2.5 percent last week after climbing 17 percent in October. The grain is down 13 percent this year.
Soybeans for January delivery rose 0.5 percent to $10.42 a bushel, after falling 1.2 percent last week. Prices have rebounded about 15 percent since reaching a four-year low on Oct. 1 amid increasing demand for U.S. exports at the same time some parts of the country experienced shipping bottlenecks.
U.S. farmers are harvesting crops, with 65 percent of corn and 83 percent of soybeans collected in the main growing areas as of Nov. 2, according to the USDA, which is scheduled to update its weekly crop progress report today.
Wheat for December delivery fell 0.3 percent to $5.1275 a bushel in Chicago, extending last week’s 3.4 percent drop. In Paris, milling wheat for January delivery added 0.1 percent to 169.25 euros ($211.35) a metric ton on Euronext.
Winter wheat planting in the U.S. was 90 percent complete as of Nov. 2 with 59 percent of crops in good or excellent condition, USDA data show. Cold weather expected this week may slow development of recently planted crops, according to DTN.
