Corn, Wheat Extend Losses on Declining U.S. Crop Export Sales

By Jae Hur

Jan. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Corn and wheat dropped for a second day, trimming their weekly advances after a government report showed tumbling overseas sales by the U.S., the world’s biggest exporter of the crops.

Weekly sales of U.S. corn fell 53 percent in the week ended Dec. 31 to 364,700 metric tons, the smallest amount in seven weeks, the Department of Agriculture said yesterday. Wheat export sales plunged 75 percent to 93,432 tons in the week, the smallest total since the start of the marketing year on June 1, the USDA reported.

“Yesterday’s U.S. export sales data continued putting pressure on the grains market,” said Tomokazu Amano, research team chief at Mitsubishi Corp. Futures Ltd. in Tokyo. Investors are now watching the monthly USDA supply and demand report on Jan. 12 for direction, he said.

Corn for March delivery lost 0.2 percent to $4.1675 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade at 2:55 p.m. Singapore time, trimming the weekly gain to 0.5 percent. The contract is set for its third straight weekly rise.

March-delivery wheat dropped as much as 2.2 percent to $5.4525 a bushel and last traded at $5.51. The contract yesterday touched $5.68 a bushel, the highest level since Dec. 4. The grain has risen 1.6 percent this week, advancing for the second consecutive week.

Through Dec. 31, overseas buyers committed to purchase 16.5 million tons of U.S. wheat in the marketing year that began June 1, down 25 percent from the same period a year earlier, government data show. Actual shipments were down 28 percent at 12.7 million tons.

Rising Inventories

Wheat inventories in the U.S., the world’s biggest exporter, may rise to 921 million bushels before this year’s harvest, from 657 million bushels last year, according to an average forecast of 20 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. That compares with an inventory estimate by U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate of 900 million bushels this year.

Soybeans for March delivery lost as much as 1 percent to $10.1625 a bushel, after falling 3.1 percent yesterday on signs that China, the world’s biggest importer of oilseeds, is taking steps to control growth and inflation. The most active contract fell 0.4 percent to $10.215 a bushel at 2:59 p.m. Singapore time, taking the weekly decline to 2.6 percent.

China sold three-month bills yesterday at a higher interest rate for the first time in 19 weeks, after saying it wants to contain a record expansion.

- With assistance from Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore and Jeff Wilson in Chicago. Editors: Richard Dobson, Ravil Shirodkar.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net