Chicago | Reuters –– U.S. soybean futures rose for a fifth consecutive session on Monday on worries about a possible trucker strike in Brazil and as an economic stimulus move by top importer China reinforced expectations of brisk demand for the oilseed.
Wheat rebounded from steep losses last week, although gains were capped by improving soil moisture across the winter wheat belt and weak global demand for U.S. supplies.
Corn futures eased for the first time in five sessions as forecasts for mostly favorable corn planting weather in the coming weeks prompted liquidation of long corn/short soybean spreads.
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Chicago Board Of Trade May soybeans rose 8-3/4 cents, or 0.9 per cent, to a two-week high of $9.77-1/2 a bushel (all figures US$). The five-session streak of gains was the longest since December.
Another possible trucker strike in Brazil could slow the outflow of newly harvested soybeans to global markets, but ports are believed to have enough stocks on hand to offset a short term slowdown in truck deliveries.
China’s central bank on Sunday cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves in a bid to spur bank lending and combat slowing growth.
China imports more than 60 per cent of soybeans traded worldwide and positive economic indicators tend to boost market sentiment.
“As far as soybeans are concerned, 2015-16 currently looks like showing another considerable supply surplus,” Commerzbank analysts said in a note. “We therefore remain skeptical as to whether the soybean price will be able to maintain its upswing of recent days for any length of time.”
CBOT May corn fell to $3.78 a bushel, down 1-3/4 cents, or 0.5 per cent, on the day.
Lower-than-normal temperatures across the U.S. Midwest this week should slow corn planting, while late-week rains in the southern half of the crop belt will stall fieldwork, a forecaster said.
CBOT May wheat gained 4-1/4 cents, or 0.8 per cent, to $4.98-3/4 a bushel.
But the slide in prices failed to generate demand for U.S. supplies as Egypt bought 300,000 tonnes of cheaper French, Russian and Romanian wheat in a snap tender on Saturday. Meanwhile, U.S. prices were well above Russian wheat costs in a tender by Iraq.
Much of the U.S. Plains saw some weekend rain and traders are now waiting to see if crop ratings will show an improvement in a weekly U.S. Department of Agriculture report published after the close of trading on Monday.
— Karl Plume reports on agriculture and ag commodity markets for Reuters from Chicago. Additional reporting for Reuters by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen Thukral in Singapore.
