Corn Futures Decline on Speculation

The corn was reduced from a maximum of one month on speculation that demand for grains used in livestock feed may decrease due to increasing the supply of low quality wheat.

Wet weather could result in 60 percent of the wheat crop in three states of Australia is classified as food quality, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said Dec. 10. Up to 30 percent of the country's estimated 14.3 million metric tons of exports may be to food, said Wayne Gordon, an analyst at Rabobank International in Sydney.

"U.S. export sales of corn could slow Asian power producers to buy more wheat from Australia, " said Jack Scoville, vice president of futures prices Group Inc. in Chicago. "Export demand is a bit slow, after prices rose, said Scoville.

Corn futures for March delivery fell 1.25 cents, or 0.2 percent, to close at 5.8725 dollars per bushel at 1:15 pm at the Chicago Board of Trade. Earlier, the price reached $ 5.89, equaling the highest for a most-active contract since Nov. 10.

Raw materials has risen 57 percent since late June as bad weather reduced U.S. production.