Corn advanced, heading for the biggest weekly gain in almost four months, on speculation that the U.S. may cut its crop estimates after floods and hot weather damaged plants. Rice was poised for the longest winning streak in almost three years. December-delivery corn rose as much as 1 percent to $5.03 a bushel in Chicago and traded at $5.0275 at 1:20 p.m. Tokyo time. The grain has jumped 7.9 percent this week, the biggest gain since the week ended June 11. “Corn was supported by a market forecast for a decline in U.S. crop yields and output,” Toshimitsu Kawanabe, an analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker Central Shoji Co., said today. Prices were also underpinned by a lower export forecast from Brazil and Ukraine’s curb on grain exports, he said. U.S. output may fall to 12.977 billion bushels, according to a Bloomberg News survey, compared with last year’s record 13.11 billion and the Department of Agriculture’s September forecast for this harvest of 13.16 billion bushels. Yields may drop to 160.2 bushels per acre, according to the survey, compared with last year’s 164.7 bushels and the department’s September forecast of 162.5 bushels. Farmers National Co., the largest manager of cropland, expects a bigger decline in yields this year than the survey, forecasting a drop to 156.6 bushels an acre this year, according to Jerry Warner, chief management officer. A national yield at that level would produce a harvest of 12.677 billion bushels. The U.S. Department of Agriculture will update its estimates today. Brazilian Shipments Corn exports from Brazil, the world’s third-largest shipper, may fall to 8 million metric tons next year from an estimated 9.5 million tons this year because of a smaller harvest, Silvio Porto, a director at the Agriculture Ministry’s crop-forecasting agency, said yesterday. Ukraine set quotas on shipments of all grains to ensure food security and cap domestic prices, First Deputy Prime Minister Andriy Klyuev said yesterday. The restrictions may run through the end of this year, he said. Corn exports will be limited to 2 million tons and wheat and barley to 500,000 tons each, he said. The quotas may boost demand for U.S. corn, Jonathan Bouchet, an analyst and trader at OTCex Group in Geneva, said yesterday. The country is the world’s largest barley exporter and fourth- biggest corn supplier, according to the USDA data. Rough rice for November delivery rose 0.3 percent to $12.83 per 100 pounds after climbing as high as $12.88 yesterday, the highest price since April 26. The contract has advanced 3.7 percent this week, gaining for the seventh straight week. That would be the longest winning streak since Nov. 23, 2007. Soybeans for November delivery gained 1.4 percent to $10.795 a bushel. Wheat for December delivery advanced 1 percent to $6.655 a bushel. The grain has risen 1.6 percent this week, the first weekly gain in three. To contact the reporter on this story: Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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