Corn falls to 33-month low as U.S. weather supports crop outlook

By Rudy Ruitenberg and Phoebe Sedgman

Corn (CBOT:CU13) fell for a fourth day to a 33-month low as rain and cool weather in the U.S. boost optimism the world’s the biggest grower will produce a record crop. Soybeans fell to the lowest level in more than two weeks.

An expected lack of heat across the U.S. Midwest in the next two months will avoid “significant stress” for corn and soybeans, MDA Weather Services wrote in a forecast today. Scattered thunderstorms are forecast in the Midwest and no hot weather is expected during the next 10 days, favoring corn and soybeans, DTN said in a report yesterday.

“Recent improvements in the U.S. weather outlook have alleviated some risk around the new crop-supply outlook,” Rabobank International wrote in a report today. “We maintain a bearish view on most agri commodity prices this month.”

Corn for December (CBOT:CZ13) delivery fell 0.8% to $4.765 a bushel, the lowest since Oct. 5, 2010. The grain has tumbled 32% this year as U.S. farmers are set to harvest a record 13.95 billion bushels, 29% more than 2012 when the worst drought since the 1930s hurt yields, based on USDA estimates.

“Favorable weather conditions for the U.S. corn belt continue to drive the market, with corn still lingering at a long-term low,” U.K. grain merchant Gleadell Agriculture Ltd. wrote in an online comment.

Soybeans (CBOT:SX13) for November delivery fell 1.6% to $12.3675 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade by 7:41 a.m., and earlier today touched $12.315, the lowest for a most-active contract since July 8. Futures trading volume was more than double the average in the past 100 days for the time of day, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Production

Soybeans have slumped 12% this year as the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts domestic output will rise to a record 3.42 billion bushels, boosting world stocks 20% from a year earlier to 74.1 million tons, an all-time high.

World wheat production may be a record 697.8 million tons on a rebound in output in Russia and the European Union, the USDA predicts.

Wheat for September delivery slipped 0.3% to $6.515 a bushel in Chicago, while milling wheat for November delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris fell 0.5% to 189.25 euros ($250.32) a ton, the lowest intraday price for a most-active contract since February 2012.

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