Corn, Soybeans Fall as Rally Slows Demand for Food, Feed, Fuel

May 11 (Bloomberg) -- Corn and soybeans fell on speculation that prices climbed too fast, outpacing recession-depressed demand for raw materials.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index of equities fell as much as 2.2 percent and crude oil dropped from a six-month high after HSBC Holdings Plc Chief Executive Officer Michael Geoghegan said 2009 will be a “tough” year amid a still-deteriorating economy and rising bad loans. Before today, corn jumped 20 percent since March 2 and soybeans surged 32 percent on increased exports.

“People are a little cautious about the economy,” said Jim Riley, an account executive for the Linn Group in Chicago. “We really need the economy to pick up steam to support stronger demand.”

Corn futures for July delivery fell 2.25 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $4.1875 a bushel at 10:44 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Before today, the most-active contract gained 4.3 percent this month.

Soybean futures for July delivery fell 7 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $11.045 a bushel in Chicago. The price rose 1.9 percent last week, touching a seven-month high of $11.31 on May 7.

Soybean sales from Sept. 1 to April 30 rose 12 percent to 32.444 million metric tons compared with the same period a year earlier, while corn sales slid 33 percent, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show.

Awaiting Forecasts

Futures trading will be subdued before this afternoon’s weekly update on crop-planting by the USDA, Riley said. Wet, cold weather has interfered with seeding during the past month. Riley said traders also are reluctant to hold large positions before tomorrow’s release of the USDA’s first forecasts for U.S. and world output and demand for the 2009-2010 marketing year.

About 33 percent of the U.S. corn crop, the world’s biggest, was planted as of May 3, USDA reported last week. That compares with an average of 50 percent at this time from 2004 to 2008. Soybean planting was 6 percent complete on May 3, compared with the five-year average of 11 percent.

“These reports will hold down trading volume today,” Riley said. “Planting progress is still behind, providing underlying support.”

Corn is the biggest U.S. crop, valued at a record $47.4 billion in 2008, with soybeans in second place at a record $27.4 billion, government figures show.