Corn hits 7-day high on supply concerns, increased demand

Futures Pros – Corn futures were up for a third day on Monday, jumping to a seven-day high and extending its best stretch of gains since October, amid concerns over declining U.S. supplies and as U.S. corn exports increased in the preceding week.
On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, corn futures for May delivery traded at USD6.9312 a bushel during European morning trade, climbing 1.35%.
It earlier rose to USD6.5612 a bushel, the highest price since March 10.
Corn futures have rallied nearly 12% since hitting a 10-week low of USD6.0785 a bushel on March 16.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Sunday that the U.S. Midwest had an above average risk of flooding through April, with some of the highest warnings put in place for Kansas, Iowa and North Dakota.
The adverse weather forecast raised concerns that the nation’s corn harvest would be delayed, potentially hurting the quality of the crop.
Iowa is the largest U.S. corn-producing state, while Kansas is the third largest.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its weekly grains report on Friday that the volume of corn for export inspected at U.S. ports in the week ended March 10 more than doubled to 1.04 million tons from a week earlier.
According to the report, The Major Feedmill Group of South Korea, the second biggest grain buyer in the country, purchased 70,000 tons of U.S. corn.
The U.S. is both the world’s largest corn producing nation and the world’s largest exporter of the grain, while South Korea is the world’s third largest corn importer.
Elsewhere, wheat for May delivery gained 1.17% to trade at USD7.3312 a bushel, while soybeans for May delivery added 0.39% to trade at USD13.6788 a bushel during European morning trade.