Corn at 1-month peak on storm damage, soy also up

LONDON: Chicago corn futures climbed to a one-month peak on Monday on concerns over widespread damage from last week's storm while soybean and wheat prices also advanced.

A storm packing hurricane-force winds impacted about 38 million acres of farmland across the US Midwest last week with crops flattened and storage bins destroyed.

Commerzbank said in a note that although the extent of damage was still not entirely clear, many observers now believed the US Department of Agriculture's forecast that corn yields in Iowa would average 181.8 bushels per acres were too high.

"Any significant downward revision of this figure would presumably put paid to the expectation of a record crop, too. It is thus no surprise that the US corn price has been rising sharply since Tuesday," Commerzbank said.

The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade added 1pc to $3.41-3/4 a bushel, by 0937 GMT, after peaking at $3.42 - the highest since July 13.

Soybean prices also rose, with the most active CBOT contract up 0.95pc at $9.07-1/4 a bushel after peaking at $9.08, the highest since July 9.

"This is thanks above all to high demand, especially from China," Commerzbank said, adding the soybean crops had not been as badly damaged by the storm.

The USDA has announced a sale of US soybeans to China in each of the last eight business days.

The CBOT's most active wheat contract rose 1.0pc to $5.26 a bushel while December wheat on Paris-based Euronext rose 0.1pc to 180.50 euros a tonne.

Dealers said a pick-up in demand from major importing countries was helping to support the market.

Algeria's state grains agency OAIC has issued an international tender to buy milling wheat to be sourced from optional origins, European traders said on Sunday.

The tender sought a nominal 50,000 tonnes but Algeria often buys considerably more than the nominal volume sought.