Corn Soars After USDA Trims Local, Global Stocks Estimates

The Chicago Corn futures jumped 4% to $7 a bushel yesterday after US Department of Agriculture officials cut by 70 million (m) bushels to 675m bushels (17.1m tonnes) their forecast for domestic corn inventories at the close of the 2010-11-crop year. The downgrade beat market expectation of a 16m-bushel cut, and left America's corn supplies on course for a historic low. 
Thursday's data were seen as further boosting prices of corn, lowering the grain's supplies, as measured by the stocks-to-use ratio, to 5.0%, on USDA calculations the same as in 1995-96 - the last time ending stocks fell to multi-year lows.
Chicago's March lot hit in intraday high of $7.00 ¾ a bushel, the highest for a spot contract since July 2008, before easing a touch to end at $6.98 a bushel, up 3.6% on the day.
The estimate for world corn stocks at the end of 2010-11 was cut by 4.5 m tonnes to a seven-year low of 122.5 m tonnes.
Global stocks, as a proportion of use, will end the season at a 15-year low of 14.6%, the data imply.

(Source: http://www.indiainfoline.com/Markets/News/Corn-Soars-After-USDA-Trims-Local-Global-Stocks-Estimates/3543092322)