BLBG: Corn Drops on Expectation U.S. Farmers to Boost Planting After Price Rally
Corn fell for the first time in four days in Chicago on concern U.S. farmers may boost planting this year and on speculation a three-day rally curbed demand. Wheat and soybeans dropped.
U.S. farmers will increase corn seeding this year, boosting supply and reducing prices in the next six months, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) said in a report e-mailed to clients yesterday. Farmers in the world’s largest exporter probably will sow 92.1 million acres of corn this year, the bank said.
“Corn is likely to be under selling pressure in the near term from the perspective of market fundamentals,” said Chris Kwon, a trader at KTB Investment & Securities Co. in Seoul. “High prices may mean more plantings, which could be a bearish factor.”
Corn for May delivery slid 10 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $6.765 a bushel at 12:14 p.m. London time on the Chicago Board of Trade. The grain rose 11 percent in the three days through yesterday. Futures surged 82 percent in the past year as stronger demand eroded U.S. inventories, which the government has forecast will reach a 15-year low this year.
Growers sowed corn on 88.2 million acres last year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which will estimate this year’s acreage on March 31. Prices may fall to $6.20 a bushel in the next three months, $6 in six months and $5.80 in a year, according to the Goldman Sachs report.
Wheat for May delivery lost 13.5 cents, or 1.9 percent, to $7.075 a bushel, declining for a second day. The grain touched a five-month low last week after the earthquake and tsunami in Japan damaged ports. Milling wheat for May delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris fell 4 euros, or 1.8 percent, to 222 euros ($315.95) a metric ton.
May-delivery soybeans dropped 16 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $13.47 a bushel in Chicago.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sungwoo Park in Seoul at spark47@bloomberg.net; Tony C. Dreibus in London at tdreibus@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net