(Businessweek) – Corn swung between gains and losses after climbing the most in more than a year as investors weighed the outlook for hot, dry weather in the Midwest against prospects of a record U.S. crop. Soybeans fluctuated.
The grain for December delivery gained as much as 0.8 percent to $5.0425 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and traded 0.2 percent lower at $4.995 by 10:49 a.m. in Singapore. Prices touched $5.0825 yesterday, the highest since July 17, before ending 6.5 percent higher, the most since June 2012.
While corn slumped 28 percent this year on expectations U.S. output will recover from last year’s drought-affected harvest, rising temperatures in the biggest growing region have raised concern that crop yields will suffer. Dry and warm conditions will continue across the central and western Midwest in the next six to 10 days, stressing corn and soybean crops, MDA Information Systems LLC said yesterday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has cut its corn-crop forecast three times in as many months, predicting production of 13.763 billion bushels. While that would be a record, it is down from 14.14 billion expected in May. The country produced 10.78 billion bushels last year.
About 59 percent of the crop was in good or excellent condition as of Aug. 25 from 61 percent a week earlier, the USDA said yesterday.
