Forexpros — Corn futures declined on Tuesday, giving back some of the previous day’s gains as investors readjusted positions ahead of Wednesday’s closely-watched U.S. government report on global corn supplies.
On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, corn futures for December delivery traded at USD6.0162 a bushel during European morning trade, shedding 0.46%.
It earlier fell by as much as 0.65% to trade at a daily low of USD5.9988 a bushel.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture was to release its closely-watched monthly supply and demand report on U.S. and global corn inventories on Wednesday.
The data could show that global corn inventories for the 2011-12 marketing season rose to 120.5 million tons, up from last month’s projection of 117.4 million tons.
Markets were also eyeing the release of the USDA’s weekly crop progress report due later in the day, which will provide an indication on how U.S. crops fared over the past week.
The department is releasing the data a day later than usual because of Monday’s Columbus Day holiday. The U.S. produced 38% of the world’s corn last year.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Agribusiness Club, an industry group said Monday that the country was expected to export nearly 10 million tons of grains overall in the first half of this marketing year, after the country voted against the extension of a grain-export tax last week.
Ukraine is set to become the world’s third biggest corn exporter, according to USDA figures.
Increased corn exports from Ukraine could weigh on demand for U.S. supplies, which is the world’s third largest wheat producer and biggest exporter of the grain.
Strength in the U.S. dollar also weighed, as the dollar gained against most of its major counterparts ahead of a vote by Slovakia on expanding the powers of the euro zone’s bailout fund later in the day.
The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.27% to trade at 78.07.
Elsewhere on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, wheat for December delivery rose 0.54% to trade at USD6.1488 a bushel, while soybeans for November delivery climbed 0.91% to trade at USD11.8813 a bushel.
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