Corn rises as US Midwest floods fuel spring planting concern

CHICAGO: US corn futures jumped more than 1 percent on Thursday to the highest level in 2-1/2 weeks as concerns about delayed planting in the western U.S. Midwest sparked buying and fund short-covering.

Soybeans followed corn higher, although gains were restrained by lower-than-expected weekly export sales data and concerns about trade with top importer China.

Wheat prices slid on a firming dollar and as the market took a breather after climbing to a three-week high in the prior session.

The market's focus remained on record flooding in the western Corn Belt, including Iowa and Nebraska, two of the top three corn producing states. Early estimates of lost crops and livestock are approaching $1 billion in Nebraska alone.

Meanwhile, heavy snows and the expected flooding in the U.S. northern Plains spring wheat belt, particularly in top producer North Dakota, have raised the risk of delays in planting the 2019 crop. Seeding normally begins in April.

"The weather outlook is not great. While it is too early to say that we're going to miss out on a whole bunch of corn acres, we are figuring out more about the situation in Nebraska and Iowa and that story is not good," said Ted Seifried, chief ag market strategist of the Zaner Group.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said on Thursday that the extensive flooding in Nebraska and Iowa will persist in the wider region through May and become more dire as water flows downstream.

Chicago Board of Trade May corn climbed 5-1/4 cents to $3.76-1/2 a bushel by 11:48 a.m. CDT (1648 GMT) in the contract's steepest rise in a month, while May soybeans were up 2 cents at $9.08 a bushel.

CBOT May wheat shed 1-1/4 cents to $4.63-1/2 a bushel following a nearly 2 percent gain the previous day. The contract held technical support at its 20-day moving average, which limited the decline.

Export sales for corn and wheat last week were in line with trade expectations, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data released on Thursday. But soybean sales were well below expectations, with minimal reported sales to China.

Traders have been monitoring U.S.-China trade talks for weeks and watching for any additional goodwill purchases of agriculture products.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that the United States may leave tariffs on Chinese goods for a "substantial period" to ensure that Beijing complies with any trade agreement.