Corn
and soybeans gained on speculation that recent rains haven’t been enough to
ease drought conditions in the U.S. Midwest.
The
U.S. Department of Agriculture left its corn crop ratings unchanged yesterday,
with 23 percent of fields in good or excellent condition, while soybean ratings
rose to 30 percent in top condition from 29 percent a week earlier. Crops
remained in the worst shape since 1988. Areas of Iowa, Illinois and Indiana got
an inch (2.5 centimeters) of rain in the past seven days, after having less
than half the normal amount of moisture in the past three months, National
Weather Service data show.
“We
would caution that the improvement in crop conditions is small and does not
change the overall bleak supply outlook,” Luke Mathews, a commodity strategist
at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), said in a report today.
Corn
for December delivery rose 0.9 percent to $7.99 a bushel on the Chicago Board
of Trade by 10:52 a.m. in London, after dropping 3.9 percent in the previous
two sessions. Soybeans for November delivery advanced 0.5 percent to $16.0925 a
bushel, after sliding 2.6 percent yesterday.
Corn
touched a record $8.49 a bushel on Aug. 10 while soybeans rallied to $16.915,
the highest ever, on July 23. The USDA slashed its forecast for the U.S. corn
harvest by 17 percent on Aug. 10, projecting this year’s output at 10.779
billion bushels, a six-year low. Soybean production may total 2.692 billion
bushels, the least since 2007.
Wheat
for December delivery rose 0.4 percent to $8.7925 a bushel in Chicago. In
Paris, November-delivery milling wheat fell 0.1 percent to 257 euros ($318) a
metric ton on NYSE Liffe.
Russian
Wheat
Russia’s
wheat crop may total 41.3 million tons, 10 percent less than previously
forecast, according to an estimate from Paris-based farm adviser Agritel. The
country’s exports will slide to 8 million tons from last month’s forecast of 11
million, the company said in a report e-mailed yesterday. Russia, the world’s
third biggest wheat shipper last season, has suffered from drought this year.
Egypt,
the world’s biggest wheat importer, is seeking at least 60,000 tons of the
grain at a tender today, the General Authority for Supply Commodities said
yesterday. The country purchased 120,000 tons of Russian wheat on Aug. 11.
Algeria also is seeking to purchase wheat, CME Group Inc. said yesterday in a
report.
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