CHICAGO: US corn futures climbed more than 3pc on Tuesday, as planting delays in the Midwest crop belt led to a round of short-covering, analysts said.
Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) July corn settled up 12-1/4 cents at $3.68-3/4 per bushel, after rallying as high as $3.70-3/4 a bushel in mid-day trading.
All three CBOT grain markets rose after the US Department of Agriculture reported late on Monday, after the markets closed, that the US planting pace for corn and soybeans this spring was slower than expected amid widespread weather delays.
US farmers seeded 30pc of the US 2019, corn crop by Sunday, the government said, lagging the five-year average of 66pc as well as the average estimate in a Reuters analyst survey of 35pc.
The turnaround in prices also "came as traders recognized the significance of the delays, causing selling to dry up, short-covering and bottom-picking to begin and momentum flipped," INTL FCStone chief commodities economist Arlan Suderman said in a note to clients.
Commodity funds have built sizable net short positions in CBOT corn, soybean and wheat futures, leaving the markets vulnerable to short-covering rallies.
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