Swelling global grain glut spurs biggest bearish bet since June

Chicago

OVERFLOWING grain bins prompted money managers to expand their wagers on lower crop prices by almost 10 times in the space of a week.

Global inventories of corn, wheat and soya beans will each rise to all-time highs before next year's North American harvests, the US government forecasts. While grain prices have already dropped to five-year lows, hedge funds are predicting more losses as stockpiles expand. The funds are holding the biggest bearish bet on the crops since June.

Supplies are rising after record prices in 2008 spurred farmers worldwide to increase plantings, while favourable weather in the past few seasons helped spur bigger yields. Even with a slowdown in acreage growth in recent years, gains for global consumption are also easing. A stronger US dollar is also cutting the appeal of exports from the US, the world's …