CHICAGO- Chicago Board of Trade corn futures on Friday fell to $4 per bushel in the front-month contract for the first time since November 2020, as hefty US and global supplies weighed over the market.
Chicago soybean futures also turned lower on supply pressures and as weekly US exports dropped to the lowest since last May, according to government data.
But it is the speed in which corn prices have fallen that has startled growers and market analysts, who say the low prices could impact the US farm economy as producers are finalizing their spring planting plans.
Most CBOT corn futures set new life-of-contract lows. CBOT’s March corn futures CH24have plunged more than 9 percent so far this month, the biggest February percentage dive since 1975.
Meanwhile, projections released by the US Department of Agriculture in October forecast that it would cost US farmers about $4.80 per bushel to raise corn in 2024.
“There is literally nothing holding up the corn market right now, because we just produced too much,” said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting. – Reuters
