US MIDDAY: corn plunges

US corn futures fell 2.1 percent on Thursday to a seven-week low on a technical setback and forecasts for improved planting weather in northern areas of the US Corn Belt by the weekend, traders said. Wheat and soyabean futures also were lower, with wheat dropping for the seventh day in a row due to ample global supplies that were chilling demand for US offerings on the export market.
Chicago Board of Trade corn futures have fallen for four out of the last five days as the pace of planting has picked up in the US Midwest following weeks of delays in key growing areas such as Iowa. "The corn is moving lower again today as the market is working its way through the nearby support areas," Sterling Smith, futures specialist with Citigroup, said in a note to clients. "Planting conditions and the weather is expected to improve by the weekend, and there should be improvement in the northern plains situation by next weekend."
The benchmark CBOT July corn contract was down 10-1/2 cents at $4.85 at 11:40 am CDT (1640 GMT). The contract fell through the low end of the 20-day Bollinger range for the first time since January 10. The front-month CBOT wheat contract hit a three-week low. The seven-session losing streak has wiped out 7.4 percent of the contract's value. CBOT July wheat was 12-1/4 cents lower at $6.78 a bushel.
The US Agriculture Department's export sales report released on Thursday morning showed that old-crop export sales of wheat were just 54,900 tonnes, below a range of trade forecasts for 100,000 to 300,000 tonnes. Old-crop corn export sales of 343,000 tonnes were in line with expectations while old-crop soyabean export sales of 73,600 tonnes topped the range of analysts' forecasts.
Soyabean futures were down 1.5 percent, falling to session lows after the National Oilseed Processors Association's monthly crush data showed that the pace of crushing was roughly in line with expectations during April. CBOT soyabeans for July delivery were 20-1/2 cents lower at $14.66-1/4 a bushel. NOPA said that processors crushed 132.667 million bushels of soyabeans during April, the heaviest for the month in five years.