Corn rebounded on speculation that wet weather in the U.S. Midwest will cause farmers to abandon plans to seed the grain. Wheat and soybeans also rose. About 40 percent of U.S. corn was seeded as of May 8, down from 80 percent at the same time a year earlier and a five-year average of 59 percent, Department of Agriculture data show. Wet weather has delayed corn planting in the Midwest and northern Plains and may flood as many as 3 million acres in Louisiana. Corn is up 84 percent in the past year. “If we don’t get the corn planted, the majority of that is going to go into soybeans,” William Adams, a fund manager at Resilience AG in Zurich, said by phone. “It looks like we’re going to lose a lot more acres of corn.” Corn futures for July-delivery gained 5 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $6.855 a bushel by 10:16 a.m. London time on the Chicago Board of Trade. The price is little changed this week after tumbling by the limit of 30 cents on May 11 on a U.S. report saying inventories will be bigger than expected. “We still have concerns on supply and weather, in particular the window closing for planting corn,” said Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services Pty. in Sydney. Demand still looks positive, especially from China, he said. U.S. export sales of corn jumped 61 percent from a week earlier and soybean shipments almost tripled in the week ended May 5, government data show. U.S. farm exports climbed to an all-time high of $75 billion during the first half of the 2011 fiscal year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said May 11. Chinese Imports Corn imports by China, the world’s second-largest user, may climb to 10 million metric tons this year as demand expands, according to Aisling Analytics Pte. That would be a record, according to U.S. government data. The jump may change the dynamics of the market, making it “China-centric,” and push prices higher, Aisling Managing Director Michael Coleman said yesterday at a conference in Singapore. China’s imports will be 1.5 million tons in 2010-2011, according to an estimate from the USDA. Wheat rose as dry weather in the U.S. southern Great Plains where winter varieties are grown and in France, Germany and the U.K., Europe’s biggest producers, damages plants. About 42 percent of the U.S. crop was rated poor or very poor, up from 8 percent a year ago, USDA data show. No rain is expected in France or England through May 15, the U.K. Met Office said. Wheat for July delivery wheat gained 11 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $7.465 a bushel in Chicago. The contract is down 1.7 percent this week, the third straight week of losses, after the government forecast stockpiles in 2012 higher than expected. Soybeans for July delivery added 7.75 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $13.505 a bushel in Chicago after climbing 0.8 percent yesterday. The oilseed has advanced 1.8 percent this week. To contact the reporter on this story: Tony C. Dreibus in London at tdreibus@bloomberg.net, or Supunnabul Suwannakij in Bangkok at ssuwannakij@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

Source