US new-crop corn futures on Wednesday fell for a seventh straight session, the market's longest slide in a year, and set new contract lows as forecasts for nearly ideal crop weather raised expectations for record harvests. New-crop soyabean futures dropped to their lowest level since early February, while wheat joined corn in setting contract lows. Traders pushed down prices ahead of the release of monthly US Department of Agriculture report on Friday that is expected to increase the outlook for autumn harvests.
"The report will show an increase in corn and soyabean production, with traders fearing a large jump due to high crop conditions and excellent growing weather," said Brian Hoops, president of brokerage Midwest Market Solutions. For the next 10 days, forecasters expect temperatures to be in the 70s and 80s Fahrenheit with occasional rainfall. Chicago Board of Trade December corn slipped 3-1/4 cents to $4.01 a bushel by 9:55 am CDT (1455 GMT) after setting a new contract low of $4.00-3/4, below Tuesday's contract low of $4.02-3/4. The front-month corn contract was down 2-1/4 cents at $4.06, near an almost four-year low of $4.05-1/2 set on Monday.
November soyabeans lost 6 cents to $11.10-1/4 a bushel, after falling to a five-month low of $11.06-1/2. The front-month contact reached a five-month low of $13.14. September wheat shed 4-3/4 cents to $5.51-1/2 a bushel, after dropping to a contact low of $5.49-3/4 under pressure from the advancing US harvest. The front-month contract dropped to a four-year low of $5.40 a bushel.
Corn prices may continue to grind lower for a couple months, considering the market did not bottom out until September last year when farmers brought in a record harvest, said Tomm Pfitzenmaier, analyst for Summit Commodity Brokerage. Corn this month is entering its critical pollination stage, a period when excessive heat and dryness can clip yields.
