September 18, 2006

CBOT Corn Outlook on Monday: Up 1-3 cents on rains, frost potential

Corn futures are expected to open 1-3 cents a bushel higher Monday on overnight strength and higher calls in soybeans and wheat supporting a firm tonnee across the trading floor, sources said.

Rainy weather slowing down early harvest activities and cold weather moving into the Midwest are also creating some concerns.

In e-cbot trade, December corn rose 2 3/4 cents to US$2.44 1/2.

"We had a good technical close on Friday - an outside day up - and we did have a little bit of a rainy forecast," said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities in West Des Moines, Iowa.

The rainy weather over the weekend slowing the harvest and potential for frost occurring Tuesday night and early Wednesday are supporting the market, he said. "Instead of an aggressive harvest it's more of a sputtering thing."

The Midwest saw scattered showers and thunderstorms over most of the western corn belt, with many areas receiving 0.30-1.50 inches of rain. Showers with 0.25-1.00 inch of rain occurred in southern and east-central Illinois and southwestern Indiana, DTN Meteorlogix said.

Frost potential is being eyed in northern Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Dakotas this week, and is a supportive factor for opening prices, Roose said.

"There is a feeling that we could lose from 5 million to 25 million bushels on corn and soybeans each," Roose explained.