Soybean Futures Slump as China Bird Flu Curbs Demand; Corn Drops
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Soybeans fell to a 12-week low on speculation that demand from China, the biggest buyer, will drop as a deadly bird-flu outbreak curbs poultry consumption and imports of crops used as feed. Corn slid, while wheat rose.
Officials in Shanghai shut a live-poultry trading area and began culling birds after the H7N9 virus was detected in pigeon samples, the official Xinhua News Agency reported yesterday. Zhejiang province said a 64-year-old man died from the avian influenza strain, the sixth person killed by the disease. Prices this week fell 3.1 percent, the biggest such drop since Jan. 4.