U.S. corn, soybean and wheat futures all fell sharply on Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture raised key crop supply forecasts, adding pressure on grain values already weighed by a stronger dollar and lower energy prices.
CBOT corn (C_1:COM) for December delivery closed -6.8% to $5.86 1/2 per bushel, November soybeans (S_1:COM) settled -4.4% to $13.43 per bushel, and September wheat (W_1:COM) ended -4.9% to $8.14 1/4 per bushel.
ETFs: (NYSEARCA:CORN), (NYSEARCA:SOYB), (NYSEARCA:WEAT)
In its latest monthly WASDE report, the USDA lowered its demand expectations for U.S. corn for the current season, raised its forecast for domestic corn production, and reduced its forecast for the U.S. soybean harvest.
“The trade was looking for demand destruction, and they got it,” Global Commodity Analytics president Mike Zuzolo said, with traders setting aside concerns about heat and dryness across the U.S. Midwest.
But analysts from AgResource expects the focus will shift quickly away from the WASDE report and back to the weather outlook for the Corn Belt, where “the odds of dire flash drought are rising sharply across the Plains and Western Midwest, where days of extreme heat and limited rainfall will quickly draw down soil moisture.”
Archer Daniels Midland offers investors a well-diversified way to get agriculture exposure, Leo Nelissen writes in a bullish analysis published recently on Seeking Alpha.
