China is drafting measures to curb excessive price gains, Premier Wen Jiabao said yesterday, suggesting possible interest- rate increases and price controls. The Dalian exchange last week said it will curb “abnormal” trading to prevent price manipulation. The dollar has gained in two of the past three sessions, curbing demand for U.S. crops.
“Talk of China curbing speculation and a stronger dollar is working against the ags,” said Luke Chandler, global head of agricultural-markets research for Rabobank in London. “We still remain supportive of the grain markets. There’s just some momentum to the downside.”
Corn for March delivery on the Chicago Board of Trade slid 4 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $5.36 a bushel at 10:48 a.m. London time. The grain reached $5.22, the lowest level for a most- active contract since Oct. 8, after yesterday declining by as much as the exchange limit of 30 cents.
Soybeans for January delivery dropped 9.25 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $12.105 a bushel after touching $11.7525, the lowest price since Oct. 12. The oilseed tumbled yesterday by as much as the exchange limit of 70 cents.
Smaller Crop
Corn reached a 26-month high of $6.175 a bushel on Nov. 9 after adverse weather reduced the size of the U.S. crop. Soybeans touched $13.485 on Nov. 12, the highest price since Aug. 28, 2008.
A Chinese consumer-confidence index fell for the first time in six quarters because of concern about inflation, according to a statement from Nielsen Co. and the Chinese statistics bureau’s Economic Monitoring and Analysis Center.
“China has poured cold water over the market that went up on concern about tight supply,” saidHan Sung Min, a broker at Korea Exchange Bank Futures Co. in Seoul.
Wheat for March delivery gained 7.75 cents, or 1.2 percent, to $6.725 a bushel, erasing a drop to the lowest price since Oct. 6. The world crop of the grain will fall 5.1 percent and global cereals output will drop 2.1 percent, the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization said today.
Russia’s grain crop slid 38 percent from a year earlier to 62.7 million metric tons, the government said. The harvest was 76 percent complete at the beginning of November, the Federal Statistics Service said.
Milling wheat for January delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris added 0.8 percent to 211.75 euros ($286.12) a ton.
Rough rice for January delivery fell 7.5 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $13.20 per 100 pounds in Chicago. The grain touched $12.97, the lowest level since Oct. 8, after plunging 50 cents yesterday.
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