Corn jumps 1% as US forecasts lower supplies, wheat eases

SINGAPORE: Chicago corn futures gained 1% on Monday, rising for the fourth session in five and trading near an eight-year top with prices underpinned by strong demand and expectations of lower supplies.

Wheat lost ground on forecasts of higher production in the world's biggest exporter Russia.

FUNDAMENTALS

• The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) added 1.1% to $5.83-1/2 a bushel, as of 0045 GMT. On Friday, the market hit its highest since June 2013 at $5.95 a bushel.

• Wheat slid 0.5% to $6.35-3/4 a bushel, while soybeans gained 0.2% at $14.05-1/2 a bushel.

• US corn supplies will shrink by more than previously forecast due to rising demand from the ethanol, livestock feed and export sectors, the US Agriculture Department said on Friday.

• In its monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report, USDA forecast that the domestic corn stockpile will fall to 1.352 billion bushels by Sept. 1, down from 1.919 billion bushels in September 2020. That compares with the government's March outlook for corn ending stocks of 1.502 billion bushel.

• China's agriculture ministry significantly raised its forecast for 2020/21 corn imports on Friday, reflecting actual market demand for the grain due to a spike in the crop's domestic prices during the year.

• China is expected to import 22 million tonnes of corn in 2020/21 year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said, more than doubling its forecast from 10 million tonnes announced last month.

• Large speculators cut their net long position in CBOT corn futures in the week to April 6, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

  • The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, trimmed their net short position in CBOT wheat and raised their net long position in soybeans.

• The wheat market came under pressure from estimates of higher production in Russia.

• Sovecon, one of the leading agriculture consultancies in Moscow, on Friday raised its forecast for Russia's 2021 wheat crop by 1.4 million tonnes to 80.7 million tonnes due to improved crop conditions in the country's south.

• European Union wheat exports are set to tail off at the end of this season as Russia continues to ship supplies despite export levies while importers hold out for cheaper new-crop grain this summer, traders and analysts said.