Soybeans rose the most in seven sessions and corn gained on speculation global production will decline and demand will rise. World grain production may slide 2.1 percent in the current crop year, down from a June outlook for a 1.2 percent increase, the Rome-based United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organization said in a report yesterday. China is expected to import 57 million metric tons of soybeans, up 13 percent from a year earlier, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. “We think U.S. corn and soybean supplies will continue tightening, while even currently high prices are not enough to put a serious brake on demand,” Alex Bos at Macquarie Bank Ltd. in London said in a report. Analysts at the bank expect a “significant improvement in the U.S. corn export pace into early-2011.” Soybeans for January delivery rose 32 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $12.37 a bushel at 10:43 a.m. London time on the Chicago Board of Trade. The price has jumped 18 percent this year on greater demand from China. Corn futures for March delivery gained 15.5 cents, or 2.9 percent, to $5.5475 a bushel in Chicago. The price has risen 37 percent since the end of July, shortly before Russia announced it would ban exports after its worst drought in 50 years. The March-delivery wheat contract gained 22 cents, or 3.3 percent, to $6.935 a bushel in Chicago. The price is up 44 percent since the end of June because of the Russian drought. Milling wheat for January delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris added as much as 1.8 percent to 216.50 euros ($295.24) a ton. Global output of cereals, including wheat and corn, will drop to 2.216 billion tons in the 2010-2011 season from 2.263 billion tons a year earlier, the FAO said in a report yesterday. “We believe the crop size for next year will be critical in setting the tone for stability in international markets,” said Ker Chung Yan, an analyst at Phillip Futures Pte. To contact the reporters on this story: Tony C. Dreibus in London at tdreibus@bloomberg.net; Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.

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