Futures Market News
Corn, wheat futures climb early but close down
Mar 28, 2011 05:24 PM
Wheat and corn futures rose amidst speculation that the nuclear crisis in Japan has irreparably contaminated food and fears the crisis will get worse, Bloomberg reports.
A high-level official at the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said Japanese food is likely to see an increased amount of radioactive contamination as a result of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that damaged the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant. The ministry found contamination in as many as 99 products in Tokyo and five regions in the country.
"Following the food contaminations in Japan, people expect the country may want [to look overseas] to secure more grains," Ker Chung Yang, an analyst at Phillip Futures, told Bloomberg.
Corn futures closed Monday down 2.68 percent, a 0.185 cent decrease to $6.71 per bushel. Wheat futures closed down 1.09 percent, a 0.08 cent decrease to $7.2525 per bushel.
Japan is the world's fifth-largest importer of wheat and the nation might buy 5.2 million metric tons this season, U.S. Agricultural Department data indicates. The same import volume for Japan has been forecast by the International Grains Council.
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