BLBG:Corn Falls for Second Day as U.S. Raises Stockpile Estimates; Wheat Drops
Corn fell for a second day in Chicago after the U.S. boosted estimates for local and global stockpiles, signaling more supplies for makers of food, animal feed and fuels. Wheat declined.
Corn inventories in the U.S. will be 29 percent larger than forecast last month as exports slow, the Department of Agriculture said yesterday. Global corn reserves were pegged at 123.19 million metric tons, 4.9 percent above a September forecast. Projections exceeded analysts’ expectations.
“Bigger-than-expected reserves have put pressure on corn prices,” Lynette Tan, an analyst at Phillip Futures Pte, said by phone from Singapore. “Prices may gain later boosted by strong demand.”
Corn for December delivery dropped 7 cents, or 1.1 percent, to $6.3375 a bushel by 12:02 p.m. London time on the Chicago Board of Trade. The grain has climbed 0.8 percent this year.
“We expected a bearish response from the USDA report yesterday,” said Erin FitzPatrick, an analyst at Rabobank International in London. “I wouldn’t read into this too much.”
World corn production in the crop year that began Oct. 1 will be a record 860.09 million tons, up 3.8 percent from a year earlier, the USDA said. The agency boosted its forecast for China’s crop by 2.2 percent to a record 182 million tons and said Ukraine will harvest 21 million tons, up 76 percent from last year.
Wheat for delivery in December fell 3.25 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $6.235 a bushel after sliding the most since Sept. 30 yesterday. Milling wheat for November delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris was unchanged at 185.75 euros ($255.11) a ton.
World inventories of wheat before next year’s Northern Hemisphere harvests may total 202.37 million tons, the most since 2002, the USDA said yesterday.
Soybeans for November delivery declined 4.75 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $12.3475 a bushel in Chicago.
To contact the reporters on this story: Aya Takada in Tokyo at atakada2@bloomberg.net; Tony C. Dreibus in London at tdreibus@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net
