WASHINGTON, April 16 (Reuters) - An overnight fire forced the closure of the Agriculture Department complex on the National Mall and disrupted the flow of data to commodity markets, including a closely watched report on U.S. crop development, officials said on Monday.
The weekly crop progress report, ordinarily released on Monday afternoon, was tentatively rescheduled for Tuesday. A final decision on the time was expected later on Monday.
Also delayed by the closure were reports such as the weekly tally of grain inspected for export, a gauge of demand for U.S. crops.
Because of the fire, power was shut off to the South Building, the third-largest federal building, and internal USDA computer networks were shut down. Spokesmen said the shutdown disrupted work on the crop progress report, which usually receives reports from the field on Monday for compilation into a nationwide report with state-by-state data.
