August 9, 2011
CBOT corn futures prices dropped the most in a week while soy slid for the fourth straight session after Standard & Poor's lowered the US credit rating, fuelling demand concerns of food, animal feed and biofuels.
"Traders are dumping grain positions and will move to the sidelines to sort out the impact on the economy from the credit downgrade," analysts said. "Demand is slowing, and that offsets the outlook for smaller US crops from hot, dry Midwest weather in July," they added.
CBOT corn futures for December delivery fell 17 cents, or 2.4%, to close at US$6.86 a bushel, the largest decline since July 29. The grain has jumped 63% in the past year amid declining global inventories.
Soy futures for November delivery dropped 24.5 cents, or 1.8%, to US$13.115 a bushel, the lowest settlement since June 30. The price has dropped 4.9% since August 2.
The US is the world's leading exporter of corn and soy. Corn is the nation's biggest crop, valued at US$66.7 billion in 2010, followed by soy at US$38.9 billion, government data show.