(Businessweek) – Corn declined for the first time in seven days as U.S. farmers prepare to plant the most acres since the 1930s. Soybeans and wheat also fell.
Corn for May delivery lost as much as 0.7 percent to $7.2825 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and was at $7.285 by 9:57 a.m. in Singapore. Soybeans slid 0.7 percent and wheat decreased 0.5 percent.
U.S. farmers may plant 97.339 million acres of corn, the most since 1936, the average estimate of 32 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg shows. Soybean area will climb to the highest ever and wheat will increase to a four-year high, the survey showed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is scheduled to release its estimates, based on a national survey of growers, on March 28.
“The expectation is certainly for good acreage for row crops,” said Michael Pitts, a commodity sales director at National Australia Bank Ltd. “The report on March 28 is going to be the market driver for the next few weeks.”
World corn production may climb 9 percent in the 2013-2014 crop year, with the U.S. harvest predicted to rise as much as 30 percent, the International Grains Council said yesterday. Global corn stockpiles may jump 19 percent from a 16-year low expected at the end of the 2012-2013 crop year, as output rises faster than consumption, the council said.
