Corn drops to four-year low

US corn futures fell 2 percent to a four-year low on Monday with all months notching contract lows as ideal weather in the heart of the Midwest signalled a bumper harvest, traders said. Soyabeans were also sharply lower, with wheat following suit. At the Chicago Board of Trade, benchmark December corn fell 6-1/2 cents to $3.72 a bushel after falling to $3.70-3/4, below the previous contract low of $3.78.
September hit $3.63, the lowest spot price since August 1, 2010. "The majority of today's trade remains focused on the near-perfect growing conditions for the US crops," said Karl Setzer, market analyst at the MaxYield Cooperative in West Bend, Iowa. "While we are seeing elevated temperatures in the Midwest today and tomorrow, conditions moderate considerably by the weekend." The US Department of Agriculture in its weekly crop progress report released after the close of trading rated the corn crop at 76 percent good to excellent, steady with last week and matching analyst expectations.
The soya crop was rated 73 percent good to excellent, up 1 percentage point from last week. Analysts had expected steady soya ratings. "Any steady number this time of year, when we are normally dropping, is an indication of a very big crop," said Rich Nelson, an analyst at farm advisory Allendale Inc. In soyabeans, the benchmark November contract finished 13-3/4 cents lower at $10.71-1/2 a bushel, falling for a third straight session and nearing its contract low of $10.65.
Front-month August soya was down 1 cent at $11.75-3/4, underpinned by USDA confirming a sale of 120,000 tonnes of US soyabeans to China for delivery in the 2013/14 crop year that ends August 31. Wheat followed the lower trend, with spot September down 2-1/4 cents at $5.30 a bushel after setting a contract low at $5.23-3/4. "Fears about the delivery capability of Ukraine and Russia in the event of a further escalation of the crisis appear to have given way to a more relaxed view of the situation, just as has happened on the oil market too," Commerzbank analysts said in a commodities note. Wheat prices had already tumbled on Friday to give up gains from Thursday, when the downing of a Malaysian commercial airliner over eastern Ukraine caused jitters about a deepening crisis.