Corn down on record US and Brazil crops, weak economy

Corn for December deliverydropped 1.5 percent on the Chicago Board of Trade, to $5.58 a bushel, at 12:50 p.m. in Paris on June 21, due to concerns that a record harvest in Brazil's Mato Grosso state might add to already large stockpiles resulting from astrong U.S. harvest and a weak economy.

Mato Grosso’s second-season corn crop is expected to reach 13.1 million metric tons from 6.9 million metric tons in 2010–2011, and world stockpiles are expected to reach the highest level in more than a decade in 2012–2013 on a record crop in the U.S., according toU.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. At the same time, weaker growth in the U.S. has curbed demand for fuel. Crude oil reached an eight-month low on June 21 after stockpiles climbed to the highest in 22 years. Roughly one-third of the U.S. corn harvest is used to produce ethanol that’s blended into gasoline.