WINNIPEG: US corn futures surged 3 percent on Monday as rains and floods continued to delay seeding, fueling speculation that the area planted with the grain will fall short of a government forecast.
Wheat and soybeans rose amid their own concerns about inclement weather and as a weaker US dollar offered further support to exports priced in US currency.
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) corn for July delivery advanced 3.3 percent to $7.04-3/4 per bushel by 11:44 a.m. CDT (1644 GMT), on pace for the biggest daily gain for a nearby contract in more than two weeks.
The July contract extended gains from European trading hours with a wet planting weather forecast that some said looked to extend another 10 days.
Industry estimates of unplanted corn area ranging widely from 700,000 acres to 3 million acres (283,300-1.214 million hectares) injected uncertainty into corn supply thoughts, while rumors of China buying US corn added further bullishness, said Roy Huckabay, analyst at The Linn Group.
"It adds up to a perfect storm," he said.
Adverse weather conditions have drawn strong interest in the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) weekly planting progress report due for release on Monday afternoon.
US farmers made good progress on corn plantings over the last week, taking seeding to 60 percent done, but were still behind schedule, analysts surveyed by Reuters on Monday morning estimated ahead of the planting progress report.
Last week, the government said 40 percent of intended corn acreage had been seeded.
Frost damage was also a concern after freezing temperatures hit parts of the northern US hard red winter wheat belt and much of the western Corn Belt on Monday morning.
"I'm sure it burnt back some newly emerged corn," said Mike Palmerino, Telvent DTN forecaster. "Hard to say if farmers will need to replant but (I) wouldn't be shocked if there was some freeze damage that would force some replanting."
Corn that is planted past mid-May often yields less, and the late planting date also leaves the crop vulnerable to harm from hot summer temperatures during its critical reproductive or pollination stage, according to crop experts.
DRYNESS HITS US, EUROPEAN WHEAT AREAS
Dry weather is stressing the US hard red winter wheat crop in Texas, Oklahoma and southern Kansas, where substantial crop losses are expected as more dryness is forecast for the southern regions in the United States.
Excessive wet weather and flooding also threatened soft red winter wheat in the US Midwest, but drier weather in the northern US Plains was seen boosting spring wheat seedings.
Meanwhile, rain was badly needed to support developing wheat in France and Germany, where crops have been stressed by unusually dry, hot weather.
"I think the European wheat market and the dollar are both helping the market turn attention back towards the supply side of grains," said Mike Zuzulo, grains analyst and president of Global Commodity Analytics in Lafayette, Indiana.
Chicago wheat for July delivery added 1.9 percent to $7.41-3/4 erasing part of last week's 3.8 percent loss.
Soybeans for July delivery rose 0.6 percent to $13.37-1/2 per bushel as concerns mounted that wet weather in the eastern and southern United States would affect seeding soybeans.
Soybean planting was seen at 20 percent done, in a Reuters survey on Monday ahead of the USDA planting report, below the five year average of 26 percent.
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.