Chicago | Reuters — Chicago soybean futures on Monday hit their highest level in some eight weeks on weather concerns in top exporter Brazil and arid conditions in Argentina.
Corn futures finished unchanged, while wheat rose slightly as weakness in the U.S. dollar added support to the markets.
Traders monitored uneven crop weather in Brazil, where soybean planting has been delayed. Dryness is a concern in leading soy-producing state Mato Grosso, while heavy downpours have soaked southern areas.
“There is talk that this could be detrimental to the crop. I think it is kind of early,” said Joe Vaclavik, president of Standard Grain brokerage.
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“Argentina is still dry, although improving. So I guess that the market perhaps is just adding some South American weather premium.”
Vaclavik added that soybean futures may have been on the rise after firms in China, the world’s biggest importer of the oilseed, discussed larger imports last week.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported a sale of 126,000 tonnes of soybeans to China on Monday. That amounted to “less than routine business,” Vaclavik said, noting that U.S. sales to China are well off last year’s pace.
The weaker dollar makes U.S. supplies cheaper in world markets.
After trading ended, USDA said in its weekly crop progress report that the U.S. corn harvest was 81 per cent complete while the harvest of soybeans was at 91 per cent complete. Both were slightly below expectations.
Chicago Board of Trade most-active soybeans rose 12-1/4 cents to close at $13.64 a bushel, after earlier hitting their highest since Sept. 12 at $13.69-3/4 a bushel (all figures US$).
Corn ended unchanged $4.77-1/4 a bushel, while wheat climbed 3-1/4 cents to $5.75-3/4 a bushel.
USDA said on Monday that exporters sold 289,575 tonnes of U.S. corn to Mexico. Separately, the government reported weekly U.S. wheat export inspections that were below expectations.
In its weekly crop-progress report, USDA rated 50 per cent of the winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition, three percentage points above analysts’ estimates.
— Brendan O’Brien is a Reuters breaking news reporter in Chicago.
