US Corn-crop delays signal tightest world supply since 1974, price gains

Wet weather that delayed corn planting in the US, the world’s largest exporter, may send global inventories to their lowest in 37 years, signaling higher costs for consumers and livestock producers. More than one-third of Midwest fields were planted after the mid-May target for optimal growth because of excessive rain, and Ohio farmers as of June 5 were the furthest behind since 1989, with 58 percent sown, government data show. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said June 6 that the disruptions increase the “potential for a shortfall.”

Corn futures more than doubled in the past year to US$7.365 (€5.036) a bushel in Chicago yesterday and may top US$9 (€6.154) if conditions worsen, according to Morgan Stanley. The rally is boosting costs for meat producers including Tyson Foods Inc. and ethanol makers such as Poet LLC, as global food inflation tracked by the United Nations accelerated in nine of the past 11 months. Read more ...

This blog is written by Martin Little, The Global Miller, published and supported by the GFMT Magazine and the International Milling Directory from Perendale Publishers