August 25, 2008

India's corn spot and futures market are bearish due to lack of demand from the poultry and starch industries ahead of new arrivals in the next two weeks.

September corn delivery dropped by 1 percent to Rs 939 per quintal due to weakness in the spot market. October delivery also fell by 1.2 percent to Rs 877 per quintal.

Spot prices, which were above Rs 1,000 per quintal last week, fell to Rs 994 at Nizamabad in Andhra Pradesh, India's main corn trading centre.

Pressure from new stock arrival and limited buying from poultry feed industries are supporting the market's bearish trend, according to analyst Amand Rajalaxmi, who added that harvesting has begun in the Nizamabad region.

Corn-sown area declined to 6.31 million hectares as of August 17, 2008, down from 6.98 million hectares a year ago. Prices are unlikely to be affected by the recent lifting of corn seed export ban, market observers said.