Friday, 10 July 2015 17:48
PARIS/SINGAPORE: Chicago corn futures edged higher on Friday, keeping new-crop prices near a one-year high, as the market anticipated a US government crop report later in the day would cut the harvest outlook.
Soybeans were also slightly higher to hold onto near 3 percent gains from the previous session as traders also bet on a reduction to the US Department of Agriculture’s soybean crop forecast in the light of heavy Midwest rain. Grains also drew support from renewed hopes of a bailout deal for Greece, which pushed the euro up sharply against the dollar.
This helped wheat, which has been sapped this week by harvest progress in the northern hemisphere and export competition from the Black Sea region, to reverse a slight earlier drop.
Chicago Board of Trade September corn was up 0.5 percent to $ 4.31 a bushel by 1210 GMT, just shy of a six-month peak of $ 4.33 hit on Thursday.
New-crop December corn was up 0.5 percent at $ 4.41, close to Thursday’s one-year high of $ 4.43-1/2 for the contract.
September wheat added 1.0 percent to $ 5.83-1/4 a bushel and August soybeans added 0.6 percent to $ 10.32-1/2.
“There is enough for the bulls to graze on,” Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note to clients. “Analysts are taking a bullish turn with their views on USDA’s crop report.
And traders are getting positioned for bad news on crops.” Trade estimates on average point to the US Department of Agriculture cutting its production and stocks forecasts for corn and soybeans in its monthly supply and demand report at 1600 GMT on Friday.
Heavy rain in the United States and dry, hot weather in Europe have also raised concerns in wheat markets, but in the absence of clear signs of crop damage the market has focused on harvest supply and export competition.
In Europe, France is on course for a big wheat harvest this summer despite a sharp fall in crop ratings during a dry, hot spell in the past month, farm office FranceAgriMer said on Thursday.
