(Reuters) – Chicago corn dropped to a nine-month low on Monday, falling more than 3 percent and extending losses after a government crop report on Friday showed larger-than-expected U.S. stockpiles.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture surprised the market with forecasts for old-crop corn supplies, estimating the stockpile at the lowest in nine years, up from an average estimate of the lowest in 15 years.
It pegged corn stocks as of March 1 at 5.399 billion bushels, above the average analyst estimate of 5.013 billion bushels. The USDA also said farmers would plant the highest corn acreage since 1936. Growers were expected to increase overall seedings this year after the worst drought since 1934 last summer reduced yields and sent corn and soybean futures to a record last year. But higher prices reduced demand.
Chicago Board of Trade most-active May corn fell as much as 3.4 percent to $6.71-1/2 a bushel, the lowest since late June.
Wheat slid to its lowest in almost a month and soybeans remained under pressure in early Asian trade on higher stocks.
CBOT May wheat fell as much as 0.9 percent to $6.81-1/4 per bushel, the lowest since early March, while May soybeans were little changed at $14.06 a bushel.
Soybean stocks were estimated at 999 million bushels, above trade guesses of 935 million bushels. Plantings of all varieties of U.S. wheat were estimated at 56.4 million acres, up 1 percent from last year, while stocks of wheat were up 3 percent from a year ago.
