Washington has cut its forecast for the US corn harvest by more than analysts had expected, noting the damage to yields caused by frost and wet weather
The US Department of Agriculture reduced by 97m bushels (2.5m tonnes) its forecast for America's corn output in 2009-10.
The revision, which was greater than the 78m-bushel cut the market had expected, reflected a drop of 1.3 bushels per acre in Washington's yield hopes following frost in October and "wet field conditions and higher than normal moisture" which had put harvesting a month behind normal.
"From October 9-12, freezing temperatures ended the 2009 growing season across much of the Great Plains and well over half of the Corn Belt," the USDA said.
'Moisture and mould'
It added that the condition of corn left standing "throughout the Great Plains, Corn Belt, and Great Lakes continued to deteriorate as reports of unfavourably high moisture levels and mould were reported".
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USDA US corn crop forecasts, 2009-10 (change from October estimate)
Yield: 162.9 bushels per acre (-1.3 bpa)
Production: 12.92 bn bushels (-97m bushels)
Use: 12.98bn bushels (-50m bushels)
Year-end stocks: 1.625bn bushels (-47m bushels) |
Nonetheless, the report left the forecast for harvested area unchanged at 79.3m acres, blaming all the lost production on a lower average yield although, at 162.9 bushels per acre, this still looked set to take the record.
The revised production estimate of 12.92bn bushels (328m tonnes) would remain America's second highest ever.
Stocks, which had been expecting to end 2009-10 at much the same level as a year before, would now drop 47m bushels.
Farmers could now expect $3.25-3.85 a bushel for their corn, $0.20 higher at both ends of the range than the October estimate.
'Uniformly friendly'
The data was received by analysts as mildly bullish.
"Corn production broke the theory of 'big crops get bigger'," US Commodities, the Iowa-based broker, said, viewing the report as "neutral to positive".
At GrainAnalyst.com, Vic Lespinasse said the data were "uniformly friendly" for corn.
"The corn production, yield, ending US stocks and world ending stocks numbers were all less than expected," he said.
The USDA cut its estimate for global output by 2.8m tonnes (110m bushels), reflecting worsening prospects for North America, European and Russian production which were only partly offset by better hopes for South Africa and Ukraine.
Chicago corn for December stood 3.5 cents higher at $3.89 ½ a bushel in lunchtime trade in Chicago.
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