SINGAPORE: Chicago corn futures rose for a second session on Monday to their highest in two months after a US crop tour forecast lower production following hot and dry weather, raising concerns over global supplies.
Wheat gained more ground, while soybeans fell.
“The Pro farmer crop tour news is very bullish and suggests one of the tightest stocks/usage setups in history for the 2022/23 season,” Hightower wrote in a report.
The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.7% at $6.69 a bushel, as of 0152 GMT, after climbing to its highest since June 24 at $6.74.
Wheat rose 0.3% to $8.07-1/2 a bushel and soybeans lost 0.8% to $14.49-3/4 a bushel.
Advisory service Pro Farmer projected a US corn harvest of 13.759 billion bushels, which would be the smallest since 2019 and below government forecasts for 14.359 billion bushels.
Pro Farmer predicted a soybean crop of 4.535 billion bushels, slightly bigger than the US Department Agriculture forecast for a record 4.531 billion bushels.
Lower US corn production outlook is adding to concerns over tightening global production of grains, including wheat and rice.
Ukraine’s 2022 wheat harvest is 98% complete at 18.8 million tonnes, data from the country’s agriculture ministry showed.
CBOT corn firmer on US crop worries
Ukraine, a major global grain grower and exporter, harvested a record 86 million tonnes of grain in 2021, including 42.1 million tonnes of corn and 32.2 million tonnes of wheat.
India, the world’s biggest rice exporter, is considering whether to restrict exports of 100% broken rice, government and industry officials told Reuters on Friday, after the paddy area has been reduced by a lack of rainfall.
The potential export curbs could lift rice prices globally because India accounts for more than 40% of the world’s rice shipments. It could also hit a few poor African countries that import 100% broken rice for human consumption, though that variety is mainly used for feed purposes.
Large speculators raised their net long position in CBOT corn futures in the week to Aug. 23, regulatory data released on Friday showed.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in CBOT wheat and raised their net long position in soybeans.
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