By Jae Hur
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Corn and soybeans extended gains as rain, snow and strong winds threaten crops in the U.S. Midwest, where harvests remained behind last year's pace after wet weather during planting forced growers to seed their crops late.
``As the slow-moving storm winds down on the Plains tonight, rain will continue to crawl eastward into the Midwest and Tennessee Valley into Saturday,'' according to AccuWeather.com. ``Arctic air is building in northern Canada and will roar across the northern Plains into the Great Lakes beginning Sunday.''
Corn and soybeans were ``supported by unfavorable harvest weather in the Midwest and a gain in crude oil prices ahead of today's OPEC's meeting,'' Takaki Shigemoto, an analyst at Tokyo- based commodity broker Okachi & Co., said today by telephone. ``However, a drop in Asian stocks has limited their gains.''
Corn for December delivery gained as much as 17.25 cents, or 4.4 percent, to $4.075 a bushel in electronic trading in Chicago and was at $3.94 by 10:30 a.m. Singapore time. Before today, the price had lost 3.2 percent this week and was heading for the fourth straight weekly drop.
The contract has fallen 51 percent from a record $7.9925 in late June, touching an 11-month low of $3.71 on Oct. 16.
Soybeans for January delivery gained as much as 36.5 cents, or 4.1 percent, to $9.25 a bushel and traded at $9.02 by 10:32 a.m. Singapore time. The price fell to $8.38 on Oct. 16, the lowest since August 2007. Futures have fallen 45 percent from a peak $16.3675 on July 3.
Excessive Rain
About 29 percent of the corn crop was collected, up from 21 percent a week earlier and less than the 58 percent of a year earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Oct. 20. Some 67 percent of the U.S. soybean crop was collected as of Oct. 19, up from 51 percent a week earlier and down from 72 percent the prior year, the USDA said. Excessive rain in May and June kept farmers out of fields.
Crude rose as much as 2.5 percent today, extending gains for a second day on speculation the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will agree to cut output to stem a more than 50 percent in drop in prices from July's record.
The dollar rose as much as 1.3 percent against the euro to $1.2762 after touching $1.2728 yesterday, the highest since Nov. 2006. The MSCI Asia-Pacific Index of regional shares fell as much as 3.3 percent to 82.41, the lowest since May 2004.
In China, soybeans for May delivery on the Dalian Commodity Exchange jumped as much as the 5 percent exchange-imposed limit to 3,283 yuan ($481) a metric ton and traded at 3,170 yuan by 10:41 a.m. local time.
Wheat for December delivery advanced as much as 16.5 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $5.395 a bushel and was at $5.3075 by 10:35 a.m. Singapore time. The price touched $5.15 on Oct. 22, the lowest since June 7, 2007.
Before today, the contract had lost 7.6 percent this week. Futures have tumbled 61 percent from a record $13.495 on Feb. 27.
To contact the reporter for this story: Jae Hur in Singapore at jhur1@bloomberg.net
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