Forexpros – Corn futures were up sharply on Tuesday, boosted by lingering fears over U.S. corn crop conditions and amid speculation that Chinese corn demand will remain strong in the near-term.
On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, corn futures for December delivery traded at USD6.5800 a bushel during European morning trade, jumping 1.04%.
It earlier rose by as much as 1.12% to trade at a daily high of USD6.5838 a bushel.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its weekly crop progress report published after markets closed Monday that approximately 65% of the U.S. corn crop was harvested as of October 23, significantly below the 81% harvested during the same week a year earlier.
The data showed that nearly 54% of U.S. corn crops were rated in ‘good’ to ‘excellent’ condition last week, compared to 66% in the same week last year.
Almost 19% of the crop was in ‘poor’ to ‘very poor’ condition, unchanged from the preceding week.
In Iowa, the largest corn-growing state in the U.S., 13% of the crop was rated ‘excellent’, while 14% was in ‘very poor’ to ‘poor’ condition.
In the second largest U.S. corn grower Illinois, crop conditions were even worse, with only 9% rated in ‘excellent’ condition, while 19% was rated ‘very poor’ to ‘poor’.
The U.S. produced 38% of the world’s corn last year, making it the both world’s largest corn producing nation and the largest exporter of the grain.
Corn futures found further support after China’s National Grain and Oils Information Centre forecast the country’s corn imports in the 2011-12 marketing season at a record high of 5 million tonnes.
China purchased approximately 900,000 tonnes of U.S. corn on October 13, the second largest single-day sale of U.S. corn supplies on record, according to USDA data.
China is the world’s second largest corn consumer.
Elsewhere on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, wheat for December delivery rose 0.6% to trade at USD6.4625 a bushel, while soybeans for January delivery gained 0.47% to trade at USD12.4100 a bushel.
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