Corn
US corn futures end mixed as the strong dollar weighs on nearby while new-crop rises. July corn "went into this coma" and could only focus on external markets, says Jerry Gidel at North America Risk Management Services. Deferred contracts finished firmer as persistently wet weather delayed planting, fueling supply concerns. Rains in Indiana and Ohio are expected to keep farmers out of their fields this week. CBOT July corn falls 5 1/2c to $7.54/bushel while December rises 4c to $6.70 1/2.
Wheat
US wheat futures finish mixed as rising US dollar weighs on nearby CBOT wheat. Worries about tightening supplies of high-quality grain due to unfavorable weather in US and Europe help support deferred contracts and other markets, analysts say. Excessive rains delaying planting of spring wheat in the northern US Plains boost MGE wheat. CBOT July wheat falls 3 1/2c to $8.03 a bushel; KCBT July slumps 2 1/4c to $9.31; MGE July adds 1 1/4c to $10.01.
Rice
US rice futures end weaker in a slight pullback from 3-month highs. The market retreated as the firmer US dollar applied pressure to commodities, analysts say. Traders will digest weekly federal data updating planting progress, which has been delayed by rains. A week ago, 69% of the crop was planted, below the 5-year average of 83% for that time of year. CBOT July rice dips 2c to $15.08/hundredweight.
Commodity bulls pull $12 bln as prices fall again-data
NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - Big speculators in commodity markets cut their bullish bets by some $12 billion in the week to May 17, a second week of heavy liquidation as fear gripped energy markets in particular, data showed on Friday.
The so-called "managed money" funds cut their overall net long holdings in 22 U.S. futures markets by some 171,000 contracts or 11 percent in the week to Tuesday, taking the reduction in contracts over the past two weeks to nearly 23 percent, according to Reuters calculations based on Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly Commitment of Traders.
Corn jumps to 1-month top, wheat up on supply worries
SINGAPORE, May 23 (Reuters) - Chicago corn rose 1.2 percent to its highest in nearly a month, while wheat rose almost 1 percent, adding to last week's spectacular rally as harsh weather from the U.S. to Europe and China threatened to squeeze grain supplies. "It is highly likely that the farmer will not be able to finish corn plantings, so it's going to be very bullish for corn prices," said Ker Chung Yang, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore. "The weather is a key factor and the market is looking forward to USDA's crop progress report."
More rain to further delay U.S. Midwest corn, soy seeding
SINGAPORE, May 23 (Reuters) - U.S. corn and soy planting is likely to be further delayed with forecasts of more rains in the U.S. Midwest, while beneficial rains are expected for the drought-hit winter wheat crop in the southern Plains, a forecaster said.
"Wet weather this week will continue to cause significant delays to corn and soybean planting in Indiana and Ohio where some corn acreage will likely not get planted," said Mike Palmerino of Telvent DTN weather service.
EU wheat largely recoups losses, weather stays dry
LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Wheat markets in western Europe were mostly weaker in late trade on Friday but well above the day's lows with no sign of rainfall relieving the European Union's parched wheat belt in coming days, traders said. Rising worries about the irreversible damage dire dry weather may have inflicted to wheat crops in the United States and in the European Union's basket bread continue to provide firm support to the market. "Crops are at risk in the Atlantic region. We are vulnerable with temperatures close to 28 degrees celsius," said a French trader.
The Atlantic region is traditionally the first region harvested in France, the EU's biggest grain producer. "We are seeing a slight consolidation on international markets after the sharp rises yesterday but worry about dryness damage is keeping prices supported," a trader said.
Beneficial rains fall in US southern Plains wheat
CHICAGO, May 20 (Reuters) - Beneficial rains moved through the drought-stressed southern Plains in the past day, helping the maturing Kansas wheat crop, a forecaster said Friday.
"The deterioration of the Kansas crop is going to slow a little due to the rain in the last 24 hours, with more coming today and again next Tuesday and Wednesday," said Mike Palmerino of Telvent DTN weather service.
Drought in EU and U.S. stressing crops and farmers
PARIS/CHICAGO, May 20 (Reuters) - Drought from Paris, France to Paris, Texas has farmers and grain dealers looking upwards. The farmers are looking to the skies for rain and the dealers are wondering where rising grain prices are going to stop.
U.S. wheat prices are on their way to their biggest weekly gain and European benchmark wheat futures have jumped just under 30 percent in the past nine weeks as wheat belts on both sides of the Atlantic show signs of irreversible drought damage.
France May Tap Relief Fund To Aid Farmers Drought Worsens
The French government may use part of a EUR100 million relief fund to aid farmers as a record drought in the country worsens, France's Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire said. The Agriculture ministry will evaluate the damages suffered by each farmer with local authorities and set up support for them, using an existing relief fund created to help farmers hit by natural disasters, Le Maire said in an interview with French radio Europe 1. Last week, the weather agency said the spring season has been the driest since 1959. "The levels of drought in May are close the levels normally registered in July," the agency Meteo France said in its most recent report. Earlier this month, the government's agency for agriculture and fisheries, France AgriMer, said the country's wheat harvest for the period spanning from July 2011 to June 2012 is unlikely to be very good as some areas of the country already suffered irreversible damages. Concerns over the drought have already pushed up wheat prices to three-month highs.
China April Corn Imports 7,215 Tons, Double On Year
China's corn imports in April nearly doubled from a year earlier to 7,215 metric tons, the General Administration of Customs said. Total imports in the January-April period fell 34% to 12,431 tons, the data showed, approximately in line with semi-official data. China is expected to post larger corn import volumes in coming months, as state stockpilers bought 1 million tons of corn in March which began coming in only this month.
Farmers Suffer Floods Near the Mississippi While Drought Ravages Higher Ground
Both flood and drought areas have been declared in parts of Louisiana on the banks of the Mississippi River as spring runoff from northern states inundates some spots and rain remains elusive. Drought is parching states from New Mexico to Georgia, threatening vegetable and grain crops in some areas, while leaving cattle ranchers short on feed. No Southeastern state is suffering a worse drought than Louisiana, even as the Mississippi begins cresting here and giant spillways divert floodwaters to protect levees in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. A nine-mile stretch of the Mississippi River remained closed to shipping near Baton Rouge Sunday after three barges sank Friday. North of Baton Rouge, the Morganza floodgates were diverting about 115,000 cubic feet per second of Mississippi floodwaters into the neighboring Atchafalaya River Basin.
In West Feliciana Parish, Julius "Moochie" Metz and Carl "Dump" Metz have moved their 40 cows to higher ground as the Mississippi River flooded their house and two lower pastures late last month. Now the brothers are dealing with the opposite problem: the higher pasture is too dry. "The grass is boning up. There ain't no grass," said Moochie Metz, 83 years old, as Black Angus cattle foraged in short scrub less than 10 miles from the swollen river. Some areas of Louisiana are suffering from "exceptional drought," the worst classification, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center. Almost 70% of the state's agricultural land is low or very low on moisture. But some low-lying areas of West Feliciana Parish, just north of Baton Rouge and on the Mississippi state border, are under several feet of water. That includes Cat Island, a swampy area on the eastern bank of the Mississippi that flooded the Metz brothers' cabin and about 400 acres of land they own.
Most of the parish is expected to remain dry, though, because it is on high ground. It normally receives about two feet of rain by this time of the year, but has gotten a third less in 2011. Some farmers haven't seen rain in weeks. Many cattle ranchers and produce farmers in West Feliciana Parish don't have irrigation systems, which are costly. Most of the land is higher than the Mississippi River, making it difficult to channel the surging waters toward crops and grazing areas. The largest farm in West Feliciana Parish is Angola, Louisiana's state penitentiary, which has crops and about 1,800 head of cattle spread across 18,000 acres bordering the Mississippi. Earlier this month, it moved 2,000 of its 5,200 inmates to other prisons ahead of floodwaters. Some of the crops are now under water, while others are withering. Danny Hoover, who directs agricultural operations, said the prison moved some cattle behind the levee and now "the pastures are getting short a little faster than they should."
Jarrod Neal and his family moved a bit more than a week ago to their hunting cabin in a dry part of West Feliciana Parish, fearing their house could flood. The house is across the Mississippi in Pointe Coupee Parish, where the giant Morganza spillway has been opened. Mr. Neal also is concerned about the 1,300 head of cattle he raises with his father and brother on about 5,000 rented acres in West Feliciana Parish. The 10 pastures haven't gone under water but the sorghum they planted about a month ago to feed their Brangus -- a mix of Black Angus and Brahman -- hasn't taken hold because of the lack of rain. "Basically, we're going to drown in a drought," said Mr. Neal, 36, as dust swirled on a pasture under a cloudless sky. A 100-by-200-foot pit recently dug for a pond sat empty.
Fungus Poses Threat to Cocoa Crop
Cocoa farmers from Brazil to Mexico are scrambling to protect their crops from a potentially devastating fungus that could crimp supplies of the chocolate ingredient. Frosty pod rot, spread by spores carried by wind and human contact, is making its way through Latin America, bringing back memories of a blight that devastated Brazil's cocoa industry two decades ago. The spread of the disease could add to worries about the supply of cocoa and send futures prices even higher. Futures touched $3,826 a metric ton on IntercontinentalExchange earlier this year when political turmoil in Ivory Coast, which provides one-third of the world's cocoa, threatened global supplies. The cocoa bean is native to Latin America, but the nexus of cocoa production shifted to West Africa in the early 1900s as infestations such as frosty pod rot devastated Latin America's cocoa horticulture. In 2005, the disease arrived in Mexico, the sixth-largest producer in the region.
Before the advent of frosty pod rot, "the trees were so filled up with cocoa fruit that I could stand behind one and you couldn't see me," says Felicito Dominguez-Sanchez, owner of 37 acres of cocoa trees in the southern state of Tabasco. Now, Mr. Dominguez-Sanchez enters his plantation daily with his machete to hack off "sick" plants, which he identifies by the fine, white powder coating their surfaces, and buries them underneath damp leaves covering the ground. International researchers and Latin American governments say the best defense against the fungus would be the use of cocoa varieties resistant to the disease. Governments and food companies such as Nestle SA and Mars Inc. have invested heavily in researching cocoa's genetics and breeding, but the research has yet to produce disease-resistant varieties.
Speculators Cut Bets Food Prices Will Keep Rising as Supply Concern Eases (Source: Bloomberg)
Funds cut bets on rising prices for wheat, cocoa and other food commodities on easing concern about shortages and on speculation higher costs will curb demand. Speculators reduced their net-long position in wheat by 54 percent to 11,206 futures and options contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade in the week ended May 17, data from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission show. The position in cocoa slumped 39 percent, in lean hogs 33 percent, in coffee 31 percent and in soybean oil 15 percent.
Sugar falls, slow demand weighs, coffee steady
LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) - ICE sugar futures were lower in early trading, as physical buyers delayed purchases in the hope of prices falling further. ICE raw sugar fell after Egypt cancelled a tender on the weekend and world crop prospects continued to improve.
Vietnam crushed a bumper sugar crop, imports to slow
HANOI, May 21 (Reuters) - Vietnam's sugar output in the 2010/2011 crushing season jumped by a quarter from last year to 1.13 million tonnes, prompting market regulators to slow imports of the commodity in coming months, a state-run newspaper reported on Saturday.
Vietnam, a tiny sugar producer by world standards, could face a surplus this year in line with global markets, as smuggling of Thai sugar has been rising while domestic prices are high, industry officials say.
Kenya 2012 coffee exports seen up 6 pct-attache
WASHINGTON, May 20 (Reuters) - Following are selected highlights from a report issued by a U.S. Department of Agriculture attache in Kenya: "Kenya's Arabica exports will likely increase by 6 percent for marketing year 2012 (October 2011 to September 2012) from the previous MY due to better crop husbandry practices, government support initiatives, and anticipated good weather. With the launch of Batian, a new coffee variety, Kenyan coffee growers may boost exports in coming years."
Thousands of Ivorian cocoa farmers fear going home
DUEKOUE, Ivory Coast, May 20 (Reuters) - Thousands of cocoa farmers who fled their fields during five months of conflict in Ivory Coast are too afraid of ethnic reprisals to go home, and many fear their plantations are either looted or rotting.
Villages around Duekoue, a town encircled by rolling hills and tropical forest in western Ivory Coast, normally produce around 250,000 tonnes of cocoa a year -- more than a fifth of total output from the world's top grower.
Oil Declines for Second Day on Concern European Debt Crisis to Cut Demand (Source: Bloomberg)
Oil dropped for a second day in New York as Europe’s sovereign debt crisis stoked speculation that economic growth will falter, slowing demand for fuels.
China April refined copper imports drop 16.6 pct m/m on tight credit
HONG KONG, May 23 (Reuters) - China's refined copper imports dropped 16.6 percent in April from the previous month due to tight credit and cheaper domestic stocks, although arrivals were higher than February's 27-month low.
Imports into the world's top copper buyer in April fell to 160,236 tonnes and declined 48.3 percent from April 2010, data from the General Administration of Customs on Monday showed.
Mine output drops in Q1, supply gap could widen
NEW YORK, May 23 (Reuters) - Global copper mine production hit speed bumps last quarter, interrupting a growth trend that the copper industry counted on to meet strong global demand and justify aggressive expansion plans.
The drop in copper output from the world's biggest listed mining companies in the first three months of 2011 could temporarily exacerbate a supply deficit that contributed to the rise in copper prices to record highs this year.
Global crude steel output slows down, Japan weighs
LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Global crude steel production slowed in April, for the first time this year after hitting a record high in March, on weaker apparent demand and after an earthquake and tsunami cut Japan's output.
Global crude steel production was at 127 million tonnes in April, 7 percent up from April 2010 but 2 percent down from March, when it hit a record high at 129 million tonnes.
China gripes about Indian iron ore but trade to continue
BEIJING/NEW DELHI, May 20 (Reuters) - Beijing is complaining about the quality of iron ore imported from its number three supplier India, but with China desperate to secure raw materials for its steel mills, the trade is unlikely to slow.
The country's steel output, already more than half the world's, continues to power ahead despite worries about monetary tightening, hitting a record daily high of 1.95 million tonnes in the first 10 days of May.
METALS-Copper down on dollar, euro zone debt woes
LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) - London copper fell on Monday, as part of a broad decline across the base metals complex, weighed down by a stronger dollar and euro zone debt worries.
Copper for delivery in three months on the London Metal Exchange dropped to $8,825 per tonne by 0931 GMT from $9,071 at the close on Friday. The metal used in power and construction fell to its lowest in nearly a week at $8,803.
PRECIOUS-Greek ratings cut helps gold to near 2-week high
LONDON, May 23 (Reuters) - Gold rallied to its highest in nearly two weeks on Monday as investors seeking safety bought the precious metal after a barrage of bad news on debt and ratings from euro zone countries such as Greece.
Spot gold hit $1,517.49 a troy ounce, its highest since May 11. It was bid at $1,509.19 an ounce at 1135 GMT from $1,507.39 late in New York on Friday. Gold priced in euros hit a record high of 1,080.04 euros an ounce.
Gold Advances to One-Week High as European Debt Crisis Spurs Haven Demand (Source: Bloomberg)
Gold futures rose to the highest in more than a week as the European sovereign-debt crisis spurred demand for the precious metal as a haven. Standard & Poor’s last week cut Italy’s credit-rating outlook to negative from stable, citing slowing economic growth and “diminished” prospects for a reduction of government debt. Fitch Ratings lowered Greece’s long-term debt ranking to four notches below investment grade. Today, gold priced in euros climbed to a record.
