Corn, soybeans, rice slide on profit-taking
CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. grain and oilseed markets dived on Thursday as the weakness in other commodities spilled over to Chicago markets and spurred profit taking, traders said.
"The outside markets are negative. The dollar is stronger, gold and crude oil are weaker -- eroding support," said Mario Balletto, analyst with Citigroup in Chicago.
The softness was reflected in the Reuters-Jefferies CRB Index .CRB of 19 commodity markets, sliding nearly 2 percent on Thursday to 414 points -- but still near its historical high of above 422 points -- due to the commodity boom.
Commodities have been on fire this year, spurred by the world's demand for food and the expanding biofuel industry that uses grains and oilseeds to produce ethanol and biodiesel.
Chicago Board of Trade May soybeans slid 20 cents to $13.52 per bushel, May corn was down 12-3/4 cents at $5.75 and May wheat was down 14-3/4 cents at $8.03 past 1 p.m. EDT.
Even the red-hot rice market tumbled. The July contract RRN8 slid its maximum trading limit, 50 cents per hundredweight to $24.32 after rallying to an all-time high above $25 during Asian trading hours.
CBOT rice is up about 80 percent so far this year.
"I don't think rice is going to get cheaper," said Koji Suzuki, a market analyst at Kazaka Commodity Co Ltd.
"I think it will be hit by profit-taking selling along the way, but prices will head towards $30," Suzuki said following the overnight rally.
Rice has been hitting successive new peaks due to worries about supply shortages that have led to political unrest and export restrictions.
Even Wal-Mart Stores Inc's (WMT.N) Sam's Club, the No. 2 U.S. warehouse club operator, on Wednesday restricted the sales of some types of rice to current supply and demand trends.
Then later on Wednesday, Brazil announced that it temporarily suspended rice exports to safeguard its domestic supply.
U.S. PLANTING PROGRESS
On the minds of Chicago traders is the planting progress of corn in the United States, the largest producer and exporter of this primary feedstock.
So far, planting is running two to three weeks behind schedule as fields in the heart of the U.S. Corn Belt were too wet to plant after a rainy, cool spring. Continued...
