WINNIPEG: US corn futures jumped to a 10-1/2 week high on Monday, lifted by trades that simultaneously bought the grain and sold wheat, after last week's report on supplies by the US Department of Agriculture.
Chicago wheat slipped, while soybeans rose to their highest since Sept. 23 on short-covering.
The USDA on Friday said US wheat stocks as of Sept. 1 were the biggest since 1987, while corn supplies were smaller than expected. On Monday, the USDA also reported increases in export inspections for corn and soybeans from the previous week, with a drop for wheat.
"We know we've sold a lot of corn, a lot of beans," said Bill Gary, president of Commodity Information Systems in Oklahoma City. " The key is going to be whether we can maintain this pace." He added that traders were selling wheat and buying corn or soybeans in spread trades. The Chicago Board of Trade's most active December corn contract was up 2.3 percent, or 7-3/4 cents, at $3.44-1/2 a bushel at 11:59 a.m. CDT (1659 GMT).
The contract touched $3.46, the highest since July 20, as it benefited from further short-covering after Friday's weekly US Commodity Futures Trading Commission report showed funds expanded their net short in corn.
The European Commission on Monday slashed its estimate of this year's European Union maize harvest for the second month in a row.
In Friday's crop report, the USDA said 1.738 billion bushels of corn were in storage on Sept. 1, below analysts' expectations. Chicago most active December wheat gave up 1.7 percent or 7 cents, to trade at $3.95 a bushel.
The USDA's larger-than-expected Sept. 1 stocks estimate pressured wheat, said John Ulrickson, a broker at market advisory service Money Farm in North Dakota.
Most active November soybeans gained 1.4 percent, or 13-1/4 cents, to $9.67-1/4 a bushel, helped by technical buying and short-covering. Traders were awaiting the USDA's weekly update on US crop progress and conditions at 3 p.m. CDT (2000 GMT). Analysts' estimates of harvest progress ranged from 22 percent to 28 percent for soybeans and from 23 percent to 30 percent for corn.
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