Corn steady near 4-week high on Brazil, Argentina crop fears

Investing.com – Corn futures held steady near a four-week high on Thursday, pausing after four consecutive days of gains as traders focused on short-term weather forecasts for Brazil and Argentina, major global corn producers.

On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, corn futures for March delivery traded at USD6.1488 a bushel during European morning trade, easing down 0.12%.  

The March contract traded between a range of USD6.1162 a bushel, the daily low and USD6.1662, the session’s high. Prices rose to a four-week high of USD6.1862 a bushel on Wednesday.

Trading volumes were expected to remain light ahead of the Christmas holiday weekend, as many traders have closed books before the end of the year, reducing liquidity in the market and increasing the volatility.

Corn prices rose nearly 6.6% over the past four trading sessions, the biggest rally since late August as adverse weather conditions threaten crops in South America, boosting demand for U.S. supplies.

The Commodity Weather Group said Wednesday that rains expected during the next five days in Argentina will only provide short-term relief to stressed crops, as heat and dry weather was forecast to return next week.

Argentina is the world’s second largest corn shipper. Crop losses in the South American country could potentially increase demand for U.S. supplies, which is both the world's largest corn producing nation and the world's largest exporter of the grain.

Investors also are monitoring the corn crop in Brazil, the world’s third largest corn exporter. The Commodity Weather Group said that nearly 20% of corn-growing areas in Brazil are drier-than-normal for this time of year.  

Traders have been focusing on crop prospects in Southern Hemisphere countries in recent sessions, as most Northern Hemisphere corn crops have been harvested by now.

Wall Street lender Citigroup said in a report earlier in the week that, "The South American weather situation is more of a problem for corn than beans because it's occurring in southern Brazil and Argentina."

Meanwhile, mild weakness in the U.S. dollar also provided support. The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was down 0.1% to trade at 80.26.

Elsewhere on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, wheat for March delivery shed 0.38% to trade at USD6.1463 a bushel, while soybeans for January delivery dipped 0.35% to trade at USD11.4900 a bushel.  

Later in the day, the U.S. Department of Agriculture was to publish its weekly report on U.S. grain export sales.