Soft Commodities Price Watch: Corn Declines as U.S. Rains Underpin Record Production Outlook
iNVEZZ.com Monday, July 22nd: Grain futures were mixed today ahead of the release of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) updated crop rating report later in the day. Market players also continued to monitor weather conditions across grain-growing regions in the U.S. Midwest and in the Great Plains.
According to MDA Weather Services, rain and lower temperatures will improve soil moisture and ease crop stress in west-central and south-western parts of the Midwest this week. This forecast has boosted optimism that the U.S., the world’s biggest corn grower, will harvest a record crop. The outlook weighed on the corn price and futures for September delivery on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) traded 0.35 percent down at $5.4125 a bushel today. Earlier in the session, the contract fell by as much as 1.2 percent to hit a daily low of $5.3650 a bushel.
Elsewhere on the CBOT, wheat tracked the fall in corn and edged lower but losses were limited by expectations of strong demand from China, while soybeans extended the previous session’s gains.
Wheat for September delivery on the CBOT September traded at $6.6663 a bushel, up 0.4 percent on the day, while milling wheat for December delivery on NYSE Liffe in Paris advanced 0.3 percent to €194.75 a metric tonne.
Meanwhile, the soybean price for August delivery was $15.0175 a bushel, up 0.75 percent on the day, following a 0.9 percent rise earlier in the day to a session high of $15.0213 a bushel — the highest since June 21.
**Sugar at Three-Week High**
The sugar price also extended its advance from the previous week, rising to a three-week high today after updated weather forecasts fuelled concerns over potential crop damage in top grower Brazil.
!m[Sugar Hits Three-Week High on Brazil Weather Concerns](/uploads/story/4218/thumbs/pic1_inline.jpg)
The October contract on the ICE Futures U.S. Exchange traded at $0.1645 a pound, up one percent on the day, after rising by as much as 1.3 percent earlier in the session to hit a daily high of $0.1648 a pound, the strongest level since July 3.
Among other soft commodities, the Arabica coffee price edged up today amid concerns that cold weather in top producer Brazil would damage next year’s harvest. The contract for September delivery on the ICE Futures U.S. in New York traded one percent higher at $1.2398 a pound, after rising by as much as 1.7 percent earlier in the day to hit a session high of $1.2565 a pound. Elsewhere, the cocoa price fell 0.6 percent to $2,351 a metric tonne in New York, the first drop in five days.
