Record Corn Harvests Can't Meet World Demand

Even a fifth consecutive year of record global corn harvests will fail to meet demand for food, fuel and livestock feed, reducing world stockpiles to the lowest in two generations.

Consumption will rise 3 percent in the next marketing year, a 16th consecutive annual gain that saw demand jump 66 percent, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. Inventory will drop to 47 days of use, the fewest since 1974, the data show. Waterlogged fields in the U.S., the largest exporter, will curb yields, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says. Corn may jump 36 percent to a record $9 a bushel if conditions worsen, Morgan Stanley says.

Corn purchases are accelerating as droughts and floods limit output gains in everything from soybeans to wheat, driving the Standard & Poor’s Agriculture Index of eight commodities 60 percent higher in 12 months. China , the world’s second-biggest consumer after the U.S., will use 47 percent more than a decade ago, adding an amount greater than the entire crop of Brazil , the third-largest producer.

“There is a storm developing in agriculture,” said Jean Bourlot, global head of commodities at UBS AG in London . “If we have the slightest disruption in any part of the world, the effect on the price will be considerable.”

Corn has risen 5 percent in Chicago this year, even after dropping 7.4 percent last week to close at $6.60 on June 17. Today, the grain settled at $6.605, up 0.5 cent. Prices averaged about $7.02 since Dec. 31, headed for the highest annual average ever. While investors should be cautious for now, “long term, I think $6 to $7 is a normal price,” Bourlot said. Costs are rising for Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) , the biggest U.S. meat processor, and ethanol maker Archer Daniels Midland Co.

The S&P GSCI index of 24 commodities advanced 5.6 percent this year, and the MSCI World Index of equities was unchanged. Treasuries returned 3.2 percent, a Bank of America Merrill Lynch index shows.

Global production will rise 5.6 percent to 866.2 million metric tons in 2011-2012, still too little to meet demand of 871.7 million tons, according to the USDA, which combines variable local marketing years for its estimates.

China’s pork consumption doubled in the past two decades and demand for chicken quadrupled, the USDA estimates, boosting requirements for grain-based animal feed. Surging energy prices and subsidies spurred ethanol production, with the U.S. industry using seven times more corn than 10 years ago.

Rogers has your ticket to the sold out IIFA Awards | Rogers RedBoard

According to reports, the first 7,000 tickets for this year’s International Indian Film Academy (IIFA) Awards in Toronto were completely sold out within five minutes. The now sold out three-day event – dubbed the “Indian Oscars” – will be in North America for the first time and features a film festival, dozens of cultural events and a June 25 awards show at the Rogers Centre.

If you weren’t one of the lucky ones to secure your ticket in advance, you can still be a part of the action with some great content available from Rogers.

Watch the IIFA Awards live on Pay Per View

For the first time in the history of the IIFA Awards, more than 4.5 hours of coverage of the event will be available on pay per view. If you’re a Digital Cable subscriber, you can order the IIFA Awards for $39.95 in either SD or HD and watch the event live as it happens on June 25 starting at 8 pm. The live broadcast will be covered in both English and Hindi.

To order, you’ll need to call 1-888-ROGERS1.

Get ready with on demand content

You’ll be able to relive the excitement of the 2009 and 2010 IIFA awards with content from past events available for free on Multicultural on Demand (MOD) channel 800 and Rogers on Demand Online (RODO). Before the big event on June 25, you can also watch popular OMNI produced shows on demand for free like Bollywood Boulevard and Bollywood Top Ten.

Get more Bollywood action with the Multicultural Entertainment Zone

Check out our recently updated Multicultural Entertainment Zone on your mobile phone now packed with great content including thousands of videos, games, wallpapers, songs, ring backs and international news. To help you stay connected to Bollywood content, this portal also has highlights from the 2009 and 2010 IIFA awards and hundreds of thousands of videos, including 40,000 South Asian titles.

You can check out the zone by texting Bollywood to 898 . You’ll then be sent a link that will direct you to more content. The text message is free to send and there’s no cost to browse the Multicultural Entertainment Zone.

Will you be watching this year’s IIFA Awards?

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