CHICAGO- Chicago September corn plunged on Friday to contract lows after US Department of Agriculture data showed far more acres planted with the grain than expected due to favorable spring weather.
However, soybeans gave up earlier gains to trade almost unchanged on lower-than-expected acreage, while wheat extended losses to record the biggest monthly drop in two years.
Plantings totaled 91.5 million acres for corn and 86.1 million acres for soy, the USDA said.
Analysts had expected 90.3 million acres of corn and 86.8 million acres of soybeans, according to a Reuters survey.
“There’s nothing friendly for corn, but beans came in close to the average trade guess,” said Jim Gerlach, president of A/C Trading.
The most-active corn contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) ended down 15 cents at $4.07-1/2 a bushel. September corn briefly fell below $4 a bushel, and ended the week down 7.5 percent . Soybeans fell 3/4 cent to 11.04 a bushel and wheat lost 6 cents at $5.73-1/2 a bushel.
Meanwhile, US stocks of corn, soybeans and wheat as of June 1 were higher than the same time last year, the USDA said. US corn growers’ inventory on farms was the largest at this time of the year in more than three decades.
