The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wednesday lowered its forecast for corn planting this year to 87.9 million acres. That's down from the 88.8 million acres in USDA's previous prediction, but still a 2% increase from 2009.
Soybeans rose to the highest level in more than two weeks on speculation that China will boost imports of U.S. crops after ending the yuan’s linkage to the dollar.
Sugar futures gained the most in almost two weeks on speculation that importers will increase purchases.
The U.S. is producing more ethanol than expected and, as a result, the industry is buying up more corn to make the fuel, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday.
Corn futures are little changed, set for the first weekly gain in three weeks, after the U.S. pared its forecast for the nation’s inventory of the grain to the smallest since 2007 on higher demand from ethanol producers.
The United Nation's incoming chief on climate change cautioned Wednesday it could take until 2050 to build the machinery that will ultimately tame greenhouse gases.
The French government has confirmed its estimate for soft wheat production in 2009-10 at 36.5 million metric tons, data from the Agriculture Ministry's statistics arm show Wednesday.
The China National Grain and Oils Information Center said Wednesday that it expects the country's corn output in 2010 to rise 2.5% to 168 million metric tons on the back of increased planted area.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to trim its forecast for the 2010-11 U.S. winter wheat crop from last month, with analysts projecting a drop in hard red winter wheat production.
Only a few minor tweaks are expected to old- and new-crop soybean balance sheets when the U.S. Department of Agriculture releases its June supply and demand report Thursday.