September 16, 2014
Corn, soy prices drop to near lowest in global trade
Corn and soy prices fell in global trading yesterday over anticipated record-high outputs in the US and the cold weather''s failure over the weekend to cause significant damage to crops.
Cornfor December delivery slid 0.7% to $3.3625 a bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade. Earlier yesterday, the price touched $3.3575, matching the intraday level on Sept. 11 that was the lowest for a most-active contract since June 2010.
Soy for delivery in November fell 0.4% to $9.8125 a bushel. Prices touched $9.695 on Sept. 11, the lowest since July 2010.
"Expectations of record US corn and soybean production through the 2014-2015 season are weighing heavily on global grains prices," Rabobank International analysts said.
UScorn output for 2014/15 is predicted at an all-time high of 14.395 billion bushels, while soyharvestsfor the same period is projected to recorda record 3.913 billion bushels, the US Department of Agriculture said on September 11.
The US is the biggest producer of both crops.
The fact that cold weather at the weekend didn''t cause significant damage to crops in the US also helped bring down prices.
"The market certainly is not dismayed by the marginal frosts that have occurred," economist Dennis Gartman wrote in his daily Gartman Letter. "Any damage to the crops in question has been minimal, if there has been any at all."
The price of wheat also fell to its lowest in more than four years also on expectations that global output will rise to a record.
World wheat production will rise to 719.95 million metric tonnes, the highest ever, the USDA said.
Wheat for December delivery fell 1.2% to US$4.965 a bushel, dropping below US$5 a bushel for the first time since July 2010.
In Paris, milling wheat for November delivery declined 0.8% to 161.50 euros (US$209) a tonne on Euronext, down 21% this year.