Chicago Board of Trade soyabeans and wheat futures fell sharply in Asia on Monday on a technical correction after active fund-buying boosted prices. The front-month May CBOT corn futures contract, meanwhile, extended losses after falling in Chicago on Friday.
CBOT corn had entered a corrective phase after touching a record high last week, though prices were seen supported by strong fundamentals, traders said. "The trend for corn is still bullish backed by bullish fundamentals after the USDA forecast last week," said Kenji Kobayashi, grains analyst at Kanetsu Asset Management in Tokyo.
"But the recent recovery in the dollar triggered some sales in commodities. In this kind of atmosphere it could be difficult for corn to continue rising strongly." May CBOT corn was at $5.91-per bushel, down 6-cents or 1.1 percent from Friday's close of $5.98. It dropped as far as $5.88-in Asia. The US Agriculture Department forecast last week was for US farmers to plant 8 percent fewer corn acres this spring than they did in 2007, but 18 percent more soyabeans.
Wet, cool weather was also delaying corn planting in the southern crop belt, which could eventually mean more soyabeans, a later-seeded crop. Chicago soyabeans and wheat fell after rising sharply on Friday, though soyabeans found support from increased export interest for US soya due to strikes that have delayed shipments out of Brazil and Argentina.
"We are watching whether corn could rise towards $6.20-$6.30 in the near term. But with wheat and soyabean prices drifting down from record high levels, it could be difficult for corn to surge continuously," Kobayashi said.
They dropped as far as $9.56-1/2. The May CBOT soyabeans contract fell 4 cents or 0.3 percent to $12.73 from Friday's close of $12.77. It fell as low as $12.61 in Asia. Meanwhile, Chicago Board of Trade soyabeans and wheat futures fell sharply in Asia on Monday on profit-taking after active fund-buying boosted prices, but firmness in other commodities such as oil provided support.