December 6, 2010

CBOT corn and soy may advance on shrinking global inventories

CBOT corn and soy may rise for a third straight week on expectations that the US government will reduce its forecast for world reserves in a December 10 report because of dry-weather damage to crops in South America.

Twenty-four of 30 traders and analysts surveyed from Chicago to Tokyo on December 3 said corn will rise, and 25 of 31 respondents said soy will gain. Last week, corn futures for March delivery on CBOT climbed 3.7% to $5.735 a bushel, and soy futures for January delivery advanced 5% to $13.0025 a bushel.

Last week's gains in corn and soy were expected by the majority of respondents surveyed on November 26. Since 2004, the surveys have been correct 52% of the time for corn and 54% for soy.