Corn Prices Hit High: Market Bits

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Corn struck a one-year high on Monday over uncertainty over whether plantings would translate into successful yields.

Corn for May delivery rose 1% to $7.76 a bushel, after hitting a one-year high at $7.83 ¾ earlier.

"Right now that does not appear likely given several outlook models," said MaxYield Cooperative Grain Solutions Team Leader Karl Setzer. "Indications that Japan may increase their corn imports once they begin to recover from last month's tsunami was also supporting corn values."

Agriculture.com warns that the Midwest's Corn Belt may be facing bad weather later this week and beyond. The trade Web site said to expect widespread rain by no later than Thursday and snow buildup in parts of the northwestern Corn Belt on Friday and Saturday.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Friday reported that corn stockpiles at Aug. 31 -- preceding the new, upcoming harvest -- will be 675 million bushels, unchanged from the March estimate, as increased ethanol use for corn is proportionally offset by less animal feed use. This surprised traders, who were expecting a drop in stockpiles. "The USDA report was not as bullish as many analysts were expecting, but nonetheless, it was by no means bearish," Luke Mathews at Commonwealth Bank of Australia noted.

Earlier Monday, Rabobank noted that the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC) commitment of traders report ending Apr. 5 showed fund money gaining exposure in agricultural commodities after its pullback in March. "In CBOT (Chicago Board Of Trade) corn, speculators' positions have increased 40,064 contracts to 350,032 contracts -- the largest weekly increase in almost 8 months," a Rabobank report said. "Over the week, CBOT corn price rallied to a new all-time high at $7.68/bushel."

Intrepid Potash(IPI_) fell 1.4% to settle at $33.98, CF Industries(CF_) fell 2.2% to $135.43, The Mosaic Company(MOS_) lost 0.3% to $8.20 and Agrium(AGU_) was pulled back 1.6% to $90.67.

(Source: http://www.thestreet.com/story/11078333/1/copper-falls-on-china-demand-market-bits.html?cm_ven=RSSFeed)