Soybeans dropped to the lowest in almost four weeks on speculation that central banks will boostinterest rates to fight inflation, reducing demand for supplies from the U.S., the biggest exporter. Corn was unchanged.
Rising food and fuel costs may pressure importing countries to slow the pace of growth. The leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa said excessively volatile commodities pose a threat to the global economy. Corn prices have more than doubled in the past year, and soybeans rose 37 percent.
“The bullish commodity environment is changing” with the threat of higher interest rates, saidDon Roose, the president of U.S. Commodities Inc. in West Des Moines, Iowa. “The markets are focused on the potential for slowing demand,” which will encourage speculators to reduce bets on higher prices, he said.
Soybean futures for July delivery fell 2.25 cents, or 0.2 percent, to close at $13.4275 a bushel at 1:15 p.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, after touching $13.2825, the lowest since March 18. Prices have dropped 4.3 percent this week, partly on speculation that China will reduce imports as the government sells discounted supplies from state reserves to curtail inflation.
Corn futures for July delivery were unchanged at $7.61 a bushel in Chicago, after earlier falling to $7.475, the lowest since April 4. On April 11, the commodity reached $7.8875, the highest since June 2008, after the U.S. said domestic inventories before the harvest would fall to a 15-year low.
Corn futures for December delivery, after the harvest, rose 1.6 percent on speculation that wet, cool weather the next two weeks will delay plantings across the Midwest, said Jerry Gidel, a market analysts for North American Risk Management Services Inc. in Chicago. That could result in lower yields, as crops reproduce during the hottest part of the U.S. summer, he said.
Corn is the biggest U.S. crop, valued at $66.7 billion in 2010, followed by soybeans at $38.9 billion, government figures show.
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