(Bloomberg) – Corn fell for a third day in Chicago amid expectations that supplies will be ample as most U.S. crops are developing in good condition.
Soil moisture is adequate in the U.S. Midwest and warm weather this week will help plants mature, DTN said in a report yesterday. Seventy-three percent of corn in the main U.S. growing areas was in good or excellent condition as of Aug. 24, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported. The agency projects that the U.S. harvest will reach an all-time high at 14.032 billion bushels.
“The crop is looking fantastic,” Michael Pitts, commodity sales director at National Australia Bank Ltd., said by phone from Sydney. “Critical parts of the crop that were a little bit dry received very good rainfall, warm weather after it, there’s more rainfall coming. It’s the perfect recipe.”
Corn for December delivery fell 0.4 percent to $3.635 a bushel at 5:36 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices are down 14 percent this year and declined to $3.58 on Aug. 12, the lowest since July 2010.
Soybeans for November delivery advanced 0.4 percent to $10.3225 a bushel after slumping to $10.1975 yesterday, the lowest for a most-active contract since September 2010. Seventy percent of the U.S. crops received the top ratings as of Aug. 24, according to the USDA, which also projects farmers will harvest a record crop at 3.816 billion bushels.
Wheat for delivery in December was unchanged at $5.565 a bushel in Chicago. Milling wheat for November delivery rose 0.4 percent to 173.50 euros ($228.69) a metric ton on Euronext in Paris. Egypt, the world’s biggest importer, bought 175,000 tons of Romanian and Russian wheat yesterday, shunning French supplies while no U.S. grain was offered in the tender.
