Indian corn futures fell about 3 percent this week, and are likely to extend losses in the next two weeks on an improvement in supplies amid an expected rise in area under cultivation in the ongoing winter-sowing season. "Supplies have vastly improved in the last week, as farmers accelerated harvesting to clear fields for planting winter crops. Prices are expected to go down" said Shreedhar Reddy, a trader based in Davangere, Karnataka, India's largest producer of corn.
Local corn prices are also under pressure from the expected rise in area under its cultivation in the ongoing winter-sowing season, which could compensate, to some extent, for the projected nearly 9 percent decline in summer harvest. In India, corn is planted in both winter and summer season, and the summer-sown crop accounts for around 80 percent of the total produce.
An over 5 percent decline in global benchmark corn prices this month, which could cut demand for Indian corn in the overseas market, also weighed on local prices. In Chicago, the key December corn contract on the CBOT was trading down 0.14 percent at $7.11-1/4 per bushel at 1331 GMT on Friday. The contract hit a two-month low on Thursday. The key January contract on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange (NCDEX) closed down 0.97 percent at 1,435 rupees per 100 kg. ($6.8 per bushel)
The contract touched a week low in the previous session. Indian cottonseed oilcake, or kapashkhali, futures fell on Friday after hitting their highest level in over four weeks on profit-taking, though traders expect a decline in the next two weeks on a likely improvement in cotton supplies. Kapashkhali is a by-product of cottonseed and is used as a cattle feed, mostly for dairy animals in northern India.
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