BLBG:Soybeans Rise for Third Session as Brazil Rain May Slow Harvest
Soybeans rose for a third session in Chicago on speculation excess rain will delay shipments from Brazil, set to become the world’s largest exporter.
Daily showers in Mato Grosso, the largest soybean-growing state, probably will prolong harvesting, forecaster DTN said in a report. Too much humidity was helping disease to spread there and in other areas of west-central Brazil, Somar Meteorologia said yesterday. Ships had to wait about 35 days to load crops as of Jan. 29 at Santos, Brazil’s largest port, said shipping agency Unimar Agenciamentos Maritimos Ltda.
The “market continues to price in the push for U.S. beans, while logistic fears in Brazil find further support with more rains in northern Brazil,” Rory Deverell, a commodity risk manager with INTL FCStone Inc. in Dublin, said today in an e- mailed report.
Soybeans for delivery in March gained 0.3 percent to $14.9325 a bushel at 5:42 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, erasing a decline of as much as 0.4 percent. The oilseed reached $14.98 yesterday, the highest level since Dec. 17.
Brazil may produce a record 82.7 million metric tons of soybeans this year, a Bloomberg News survey of 23 analysts showed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture last month predicted an 82.5 million-ton harvest and is scheduled to update its forecast Feb. 8. Argentina may harvest 52.9 million tons, below the prior USDA estimate at 54 million tons, the analysts said.
Corn for delivery in March was unchanged at $7.3425 a bushel. Brazil may grow a 71.3 million-ton crop of the grain, up from last month’s forecast at 71 million tons, analysts said. The harvest in Argentina, where weather was hot and dry in recent weeks, may be 26.4 million tons, down from 28 million tons, according to the survey.
Wheat for delivery in March rose 0.1 percent to $7.6375 a bushel. In Paris, milling wheat for the same delivery month fell 0.2 percent to 247 euros ($335) a ton on NYSE Liffe.
To contact the reporter on this story: Whitney McFerron in London at wmcferron1@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net
