Corn futures dropped for a fourth day on speculation that investors are locking in gains after prices rallied to a two-year high. Corn for December delivery fell as much as 1.1 percent to $5.5675 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and traded at $5.595 at 2:34 p.m. Singapore time. Futures surged to $5.88 a bushel on Oct. 13, the highest price for a most-active contract since Aug. 29, 2008. Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators trimmed for a second week their net-long positions, or the difference between bets on price gains and wagers on declines, in Chicago corn futures in the week ended Oct. 12, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. “Market participants took profits on previous positions after pushing futures to the highest level in more than two years earlier,” Ker Chung Yang, an analyst at Phillip Futures Pte., said in a report e-mailed today. Net-long positions in corn declined 2.6 percent to 432,737 contracts in Chicago, according trading commission data. U.S. farmers sold 906,029 metric tons in the week ended Oct. 7, taking total outstanding sales and accumulated exports to 18.97 million tons, the nation’s Department of Agriculture said Oct. 15. Traders surveyed by Bloomberg News expected sales for the week to rise to as much as 2 million tons. Wheat for December delivery was little changed at $7.0475 a bushel in Chicago after swinging between gains and losses. Net-Long Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators reversed from a net-long position to a net-short position in Chicago wheat futures in the week ended Oct. 12. Speculative short positions, or bets prices will fall, outnumbered long positions by 3,592 contracts in Chicago, the Washington-based trading commission said in its Commitments of Traders report. Last week, traders were net-long 4,008 contracts. Soybeans for January delivery rose 0.2 percent to $11.98 a bushel. U.S. exporters sold 518,803 tons to China and unknown buyers for delivery in the year that began Sept. 1, the USDA said Oct. 15. Sales in the week ended Oct. 7 rose 17 percent from a week earlier to 1.109 million tons, including 53 percent to China, the biggest consumer. Chinese buyers ordered 25 cargoes of South American soybeans since the Oct. 1 national holiday, Grain.gov.cn said in an e-mailed report on Oct. 15. The nation’s crushers have been seeking South American supplies as surging prices of vegetable oil and animal feed boosted profits from processing the oilseed, the report said. Rice Gains Rough-rice for November delivery advanced for a fifth consecutive day today, gaining 0.6 percent to $13.655 on the Chicago Board of Trade 1:09 p.m. Singapore time. The Philippines, the world’s biggest rice buyer, may lose 600,000 metric tons of the crop as Supertyphoon Megi, the strongest to hit the nation this year, strikes some of the nation’s biggest producing areas, Agriculture Undersecretary Antonio Fleta said in a phone interview today. Potential losses may boost the Philippines’ import needs by 500,000 tons, pushing prices higher in Chicago and Thailand, Chookiat Ophaswongse, former president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said from Bangkok. “I think it may have some effect, even on U.S. rice prices,” said Chookiat, who advises the export group. Thai rice prices may rise by as much as $20 a ton, he said. To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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