(Businessweek) – Soybeans were little changed after reaching $14 a bushel in Chicago and a government report showed dry weather is eroding the outlook for crops in the U.S. Corn fell less than 1 cent.
U.S. farmers will harvest 3.149 billion bushels of soybeans this year, 3.3 percent less than estimated in August, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday, cutting its forecast for the second time in as many months. Areas of top growers Iowa and Illinois had as little as 5 percent of the normal amount of rain in the last 30 days, National Weather Service data show.
The USDA “release was bullish for soybean prices and bearish for corn prices,” Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts including Damien Courvalin said in an e-mailed report. “Outlook for soybean prices is more challenging given the greater uncertainty on U.S. production.”
Soybeans for delivery in November fell 0.1 percent to $13.94 a bushel at 5:32 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, after touching $14 a bushel, the highest since Sept. 3. The oilseed climbed 2.8 percent yesterday, the biggest gain since Aug. 26. The price is set for a sixth weekly increase.
Soybean development was delayed by wet, cool weather earlier this year, leaving yields vulnerable to heat and dry weather in August, a time when plants are developing pods and maturing before the harvest, USDA data show. Goldman raised its outlook for prices for three and six months, while leaving forecasts below current levels on expectations for ample world supplies.
Corn Prices
Corn for December delivery fell 0.2 percent to $4.655 a bushel, extending yesterday’s 1.3 percent decline. The grain was on pace for a second weekly decline. Trading volume was 48 percent below the 100-day average for that time of day, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The USDA raised its forecast for the U.S. corn harvest yesterday to a record 13.843 billion bushels, up 0.6 percent from its August forecast, while analysts surveyed by Bloomberg before the report expected a cut. U.S. corn production will rise 28 percent from the drought-reduced harvest last year. Rising U.S. output will boost global inventories to 151.42 million metric tons, a 12-year high, the USDA said.
Wheat for December delivery fell 0.7 percent to $6.4825 a bushel. In Paris, milling wheat for November delivery was unchanged at 186.75 euros ($248.19) a ton on NYSE Liffe. The USDA raised its estimate for global production to 708.89 million tons from an August forecast of 705.38 million tons on improved outlook for crops in Europe and Canada.
