(Bloomberg) – Corn futures fell for a third day in Chicago amid expectations a record global crop this season will lift ending stockpiles to the highest in more than a decade.
The world’s farmers will harvest 966.6 million metric tons of corn in the 2013-14 season, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted this week, leaving its previous outlook little changed. That compares with 862.8 million tons in 2012-13. The USDA also raised its estimate for the nation’s exports of the grain this year.
“In corn, despite the good export figures for the U.S., the global balance sheet remains heavy,” Paris-based farm adviser Agritel wrote in a market comment.
Corn for delivery in March dropped 0.3 percent to $4.40 a bushel by 5:33 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices gained 4.3 percent so far this year after a 40 percent slide last year, the worst annual performance since at least 1959.
Ending stocks for the 2013-14 harvest are predicted to climb to 157.3 million tons, the highest since 2000-01, from 134 million tons.
A heat wave and drought in Brazil will ease this week, with the southern state of Parana due to get rain by tomorrow, according to a government forecaster. Parana is Brazil’s second-biggest corn-producing state.
Soybeans for delivery in March slipped 0.2 percent to $13.3175 a bushel. Wheat for the same delivery month rose 0.1 percent to $5.9075 a bushel and milling wheat for delivery in November traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris was unchanged at 185.50 euros ($252.66) a ton.
