Soybeans rose in Chicago, heading for a third weekly advance, on speculation that China will sustain purchases as demand for cooking oil and livestock feed expands in the world’s biggest importer. U.S. soybean sales jumped 85 percent from a week earlier to 2.02 million metric tons in the week to Oct. 14, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. About 72 percent of sales were to China, it said. Chinese imports may be 4.65 million tons this month, about the same as last month, the China National Grain & Oils Information Center said yesterday. “China’s voracious appetite for soybeans” is boosting prices, said Sudakshina Unnikrishnan, an analyst at Barclays Capital in London. “Crushing margins remain in positive territory, so that’s going to keep demand strong.” Soybeans for January delivery added 6 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $12.19 a bushel at 1:14 p.m. London time on the Chicago Board of Trade. The contract has climbed 1.9 percent this week. Processors crush the oilseed to extract oil, and the remaining meal is typically used to make animal feed. China will increase imports by 23 percent this year, partly to feed hogs as pork consumption rises, said Roy Huckabay, an executive vice president at the Linn Group in Chicago. Inbound soybean shipments reached a record 50.5 million tons in the year through September, up 28 percent from the prior period, USDA data show. ‘Strong Demand’ “What we’re seeing is strong demand for soybeans” from China, Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services Pty, said by phone from Sydney. Any price declines triggered by a stronger dollar will attract buyers, he said. “We’ll add to positions” when soybeans drop to $12 a bushel, he said. The U.S. Dollar Index, a six-currency gauge of the greenback’s strength, was little changed after climbing as much as 0.4 percent. A stronger dollar makes crops priced in the currency more expensive in terms of other monies and erodes demand for commodities as an alternative investment. May-delivery soybeans in Dalian fell 0.3 percent to 4,301 yuan ($646) a ton, the equivalent of about 1.4 tons of soybeans at Chicago prices, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Wheat for December delivery rose 2.5 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $6.7125 a bushel. The price has lost 4.7 this week on wet weather in the U.S. southern Great Plains. Export sales from the U.S. jumped 52 percent to 574,000 tons in the week to Oct. 14, the USDA said. Milling Wheat, Corn Milling wheat for January delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris rose 50 cents, or 0.2 percent, to 207.75 euros ($289.45) a ton. Corn gained in Chicago even after the USDA said yesterday export sales fell 77 percent to 212,500 tons in the week to Oct. 14, about 72 percent less than the five-year average. “The fundamentals still remain constructive,” said Unnikrishnan of Barclays. “Prices will be choppy around these levels, but the fundamental outlook remains quite positive.” Corn for December delivery rose 1.25 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $5.655 a bushel. The price has gained 0.4 percent this week, heading for a third weekly advance in a row. Most of the gains came on Oct. 20 when the commodity jumped 5 percent. Rice for January delivery added 9 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $14.51 per 100 pounds. Prices are on course for a ninth weekly gain, the longest such rally since a streak that ended in August 2003. The most-active contract by open interest rose for a ninth session. Rice Inventories Stockpiles held by the world’s five biggest exporters will likely decline in 2011 as they boost shipments this year, tightening global supply and supporting prices, Concepcion Calpe, senior economist at the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, said from Rome on Oct. 20. “The rally was driven by news on worries over declining supplies,” Chookiat Ophaswongse, former president of the Thai Rice Exporters Association, said in a phone interview. Hot weather was forecast to curb yields in the U.S., the world’s fourth-largest shipper last year, the National Weather Service said. At the same time, excess rains and flooding hurt rice crops in Thailand and Vietnam, the two largest exporters, and the Philippines, the biggest buyer. Crop damage in those countries comes amid production losses in Pakistan, the third-largest exporter last year, where floods destroyed 2.39 million tons of rice, Farm Minister Nazar Muhammad Gondal said on Sept. 28. To contact the reporters on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net; Tony C. Dreibus in London at tdreibus@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.

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