(Bloomberg) -- U.S. corn is not only the cheapest in the world, but also the only supply that's amply available in the global market.
With Brazil effectively running out of the grain until the next harvest and prices in Argentina soaring, the U.S. is regaining some market share that the world's biggest corn producer and exporter had lost to other suppliers.
“The U.S. is going to enjoy a two- to three-month window, where they are going to be pretty much the only game in town,” said Terry Reilly, senior commodity analyst at Futures International LLC in Chicago, referring to the global corn market.
Importers including Mexico and Japan have purchased at least 100,000 metric tons of American yellow grain for four straight business days, the longest streak of such deals in at least three years, U.S. Department of Agriculture data showed Tuesday.
Chicago corn futures were a bright spot Tuesday in crop markets hit by fears over the spreading coronavirus in China. Futures for March were up 1.3% at $3.855 a bushel.
“There is no one on this side of the globe offering corn for less,” said John Payne, a senior broker at Daniels Trading.
--With assistance from Patrick McKiernan.
To contact the reporters on this story: Michael Hirtzer in Chicago at mhirtzer@bloomberg.net;Laura Yin in Seattle at yyin26@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Attwood at jattwood3@bloomberg.net, Pratish Narayanan, Millie Munshi
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