US corn futures firm

US corn futures closed firm on Tuesday, rising over 1/2 percent as wet and cold weather threatened the 2009 harvest. Soyabeans sagged as traders bought corn and sold soya in spread trading. "There is corn/bean spreading, the bean yields are just huge, and I think the wet weather is a bigger problem for corn harvest than frost," said Paul Haugens, vice president for Newedge USA.
Corn for December delivery was up 2-1/4 cents per bushel at $3.41. November soya was down 2-1/2 cents at $9.17. Wheat fell almost 2 percent to a two-week low after Egypt shunned the United States and bought wheat from Russia. "We tried to push higher early in the day, and when the reports came out that they bought all Russian wheat, wheat turned lower," said Shawn McCambridge, analyst for Prudential Bache Commodities.
December delivery wheat ended down 8-1/4 cents at $4.47-1/2 a bushel. Wheat also was weighed down by expectations that the US government will forecast a larger 2009 US wheat crop in its September wheat production report early on Wednesday. McCambridge said that, although corn closed higher, there wasn't much conviction on either side of the market and it is running out of technical strength. "We really needed to get above the double top of $3.47-3/4 (in the December 2009 contract) to find more technical strength," McCambridge said.
The session high for December corn was $3.47. Farmers in the United States are in the early stages of harvesting or gathering this year's big corn crop and a large soyabean crop that is likely to set a record. The harvest pace is well behind average due to the late development of both crops this year.
Now the crops face the added threat of wet and cold weather, and talk of a frost continues to surface. Frost can harm crops that are not quite mature. "It depends on the interpretation of frost fears. Frost now would affect corn quality more than yields," said Joe Bedore, CBOT floor manager for trade house FC Stone.
A weather forecaster said it was a chilly morning in the US Midwest on Tuesday but there were no freezing temperatures. "It was not cold enough to be damaging," said Mike Palmerino, forecaster with DTN Meteorlogix weather service. Traders in the Asian Globex market said corn also found support from news the US Grains Council trimmed a forecast for China's crop after a tour of the country's corn growing areas. Analysts said the soyabean market remained under pressure from the potential for a record large US soya crop this year.