Soybeans, corn and wheat rose in Chicago on speculation the biggest declines in almost a month are luring importers and investors. Soybeans and wheat yesterday fell the most since March 15, and corn dropped the most since March 16. Prices slid as commodities retreated amid more earthquakes in Japan and radiation leaks from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant. The Japanese government raised the severity of the nuclear crisis to the highest level, matching the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. “We wouldn’t be surprised to see a slight reversal of some of those losses,” Luke Mathews, a strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said by phone from Sydney. Yesterday’s selling stemmed more from “risk aversion through the entire financial markets” than a change in the fundamental supply-and- demand balance outlook, he said. Soybeans for July delivery gained 9.25 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $13.5025 a bushel at 11:07 a.m. London time on the Chicago Board of Trade. The contract closed 2.8 percent lower yesterday. Stockpiles of the oilseed in the U.S., the largest grower and exporter, fell 1.8 percent from a year earlier to 1.249 billion bushels as of March 1, the lowest for that date since 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said March 31. The nation’s farmers will cut the area sown with soybeans by 1 percent to 76.609 million acres, the USDA said. Soybean Harvests Production from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Bolivia will reach 132.7 million metric tons this year, 2.8 million tons more than previously forecast, researcher Oil World said yesterday. The U.S. will export 42.5 million tons, or 1.1 percent less than the USDA’s estimate, it said. Corn for July delivery gained 5.5 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $7.63 a bushel. China will probably buy 1 million to 2 million tons of the grain from Argentina for shipment in June and July, Oil World said yesterday. Argentina is the world’s largest corn exporter after the U.S., according to USDA data. Wheat for July delivery rose 2 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $7.9425 a bushel. The grain is up 4.1 percent this month, partly on speculation demand will increase amid declining world stockpiles. Milling wheat for May delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris fell 1.50 euros, or 0.6 percent, to 238.75 euros ($346.121) a ton. 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: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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