Storms drive surge in US grain markets
Torrential rains have hit US grain crops this year. And with demand from biofuels also boosting prices, the regulator may have to step in to cool the markets.
"This year, the corn crop needs to be a bumper crop or there will be a shortfall," says Kevin Kerr on MarketWatch.com. "It's likely that we will have a low yield crop, and $7.50 corn is a real possibility." By the beginning of this week, corn for July delivery had hit a record $6.70/bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, up 8.6% in a week and 47% since the start of the year; contracts for later in the year have already breached $7.
"Torrential" rain in parts of the Midwest is behind the latest surge, says Chris Flood in the FT. The wet weather is delaying planting and threatening yields. "One trader estimated that about four million acres of corn and up to 19 million acres of soybeans have yet to be planted." Soybeans also rose on the storms, nearing $14.90/bushel, up 24% since the start of the year, although still down from an all-time record of $15.85 in March.
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