June 11, 2010
CBOT corn futures head for weekly gain
Corn futures advanced, set for the first weekly gain in three weeks, after the US trimmed its forecast for the nation's inventory of the grain to the smallest since 2007 on higher demand from ethanol producers.
Corn for December delivery, the contract with the biggest open interest, rose 0.1% to US$3.65 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade at 1:23 p.m. Singapore time and is poised for a 1.5% advance this week. The price jumped as much as 2.7% yesterday (Jun 10), after the USDA released its estimate.
Inventories in the US, forecast to account for 57% of global corn exports in the 2010-2011 marketing year, may be 1.603 billion bushels on August 31, as the nation uses more of the grain to make ethanol, the USDA said in a report. The USDA also trimmed its world corn inventory at the end of the 2010-2011 year by 4.5% from last month.
''The numbers are definitely supportive of corn,'' Michael Pitts, director for commodity sales of National Australia Bank Ltd. said. ''That's a bit of a surprise to the market and prices may be supported through next week,'' he said.
The global corn inventory will be 147.32 million tonnes at the end of the 2010-11 marketing year, down from last month's estimate of 154.21 million tonnes, according to the USDA forecast.
The USDA also raised its estimate on corn imports by China, the world's second-largest consumer, in the year ending September 30 to one million tonnes, the highest in 14 years, from 300,000 tonnes last month, as it boosted its outlook on global trade.
