US old-crop corn futures rose on Tuesday, their third straight day of gains, on worries that supplies will run thin before harvest replenishes storage bins and grain elevators, traders said. New-crop December corn also rose, but gains were muted on expectations that farmers will plant the largest corn area in 75 years as projected by the US government, setting the stage for what could be a record harvest in the fall.
"It is bull spreading in a big way so it has got to be people looking for corn right up front," said Mark Schultz, chief analyst for Northstar Commodities. Soyabean futures closed lower after a day of choppy trading as investors locked in profits following a two-day rally.
US wheat futures also were mixed, with the old-crop May contract edging higher due to strength in corn. Forecasts for beneficial crop weather in key growing areas, which should raise already ample supplies, weighed down new-crop months. CBOT May corn settled up 3-1/4 cents at $6.58-1/4 a bushel while the new-crop December contract was just 1/2 cent higher at $5.45-1/2 a bushel.
May corn briefly broke through its 200-day moving average but closed below that key technical point. The July/December corn spread has widened by 40 percent since the USDA plantings report on Friday morning. "We have been liking that July/December spread," said Bill Gentry, a broker for Risk Management Commodities. "The spread trade is probably the backbone of it (the corn rally)."
Private forecaster Informa Economics said it raised its outlook for US corn plantings to 96.4 million acres from 95.5 million. It cut its soyabean acreage view to 74.2 million from 75.1 million. CBOT May soyabeans ended down 4-1/4 cents at $14.16-3/4 a bushel. CBOT May wheat was 1 cent higher at $6.58 a bushel. New-crop July wheat dropped 1/2 cent to close at $6.69.
The new-crop soyabean/corn ratio eased slightly to 2.53, still above the 2.5 threshold that the market typically sees a trigger for farmers to plant soyabeans instead of corn. The fast start to planting buoyed expectations of large corn seedings, followed by a bumper crop, this year. USDA said on Monday afternoon that farmers had seeded 3 percent of their intended corn acreage as of April 1, matching the quickest start on record.