Head of Commodity Strategy
Summary: Corn futures in Chicago continue to scream higher as the market adapts to a potential dramatic collapse in the prospect for US acreage and yields this season. Widespread flooding across the US corn-growing belt has jeopardised vast amounts of this year's crop.
Slides below are from today’s www.morningcall.saxo which is live daily at 6:45 GMT (CET +2, ET -4).
Adverse weather and flooding in the Midwest and Plains have not only delayed planting of corn and soybeans but also raised concerns that flooding may damage the quality of the wheat crop already in the ground.
Today the price of corn reached a fresh three-year high following the release of the weekly planting progress report, currently most-watched set of data from the USDA. The latest report covering the week to May 26 found that the record slow historic planting pace continued last week with just 58% planted compared with 90% for the same time last year. US farmers across the corn belt have not been able to enter their flooded fields and with the clock ticking down to the time when planting no longer makes sense has almost arrived. This partly explains the continued rally today with the total gain on the new crop December contract having reached 25% during the past two weeks.
While these developments are mostly bad news for US farmers as they don’t have the crop to sell to take advantage of the price spike it is different in South America. In response to the current price spike the cabinet chief of Argentina’s agriculture secretariat told Reuters on Tuesday that Argentina’s corn harvest for the 2019/20 season could surpass the record production of 56 million tonnes for the current 2018/19 season.
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