(Businessweek) – Corn headed for a second weekly drop in Chicago on signs of weakening global demand for the grain and after the U.S., the biggest shipper, forecast a record harvest.
Export sales of corn were the lowest since January at 149,460 metric tons in the week to June 6, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. The figure includes sales for delivery during this marketing year and next. U.S. farmers may harvest 14.005 billion bushels, 30 percent more than a year earlier, when crops were hurt by drought, the USDA said June 12. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. cut corn-price forecasts yesterday, citing the recovery in U.S. production.
“The volume of exports has leveled off,” said Makiko Tsugata, an analyst at Market Risk Advisory Co. in Tokyo. The U.S. harvest will still reach a record, even after wet weather delayed planting, she said.
Corn for delivery in December slipped 0.2 percent to $5.3425 a bushel at 6:21 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices are down 4.3 percent this week.
Goldman Sachs cut its corn-price forecast to $4.75 a bushel from $5.25. It also said soybeans may be $11 a bushel, compared with a previous outlook at $12.50. The forecasts are for trading in three, six and 12 months.
Soybeans for delivery in November increased 0.4 percent to $13.0575 a bushel, cutting this week’s drop to 1.8 percent. The U.S. harvest of the oilseed will surge to a record 3.39 billion bushels, according to the USDA.
Wheat for delivery in July declined 0.6 percent to $6.815 a bushel, down 2.1 percent this week. In Paris, milling wheat for delivery in November was unchanged at 197.75 euros ($263.46) a ton on NYSE Liffe.
