Soybeans rise on Chinese buying, dry Brazil weather

CHICAGO: Chicago soybean futures climbed on Wednesday, supported by renewed exports and dryness in top exporter Brazil, traders said.

Corn and wheat futures ended higher after trading both sides of even as markets digested conflicting indicators.

The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade gained 12-1/4 cents to $10.56-1/4 a bushel.

Corn was up 5-1/4 cents at $3.96-1/2 a bushel and wheat added 2-3/4 cents to $5.96-3/4 a bushel.

Fresh soybean export sales were reported, with the US harvest underway.

"There's been a lot of farmers selling," said Joe Vaclavik, president of Standard Grain. "I think it's remarkable that the market is holding up as well as it is."

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported 264,000 tonnes of US soybean sales to China on Wednesday morning.

Rains in Brazil have been patchy, threatening the country's soybean planting cycle, industry experts said.

Corn futures climbed as export demand lifted, despite harvest pressure.

"We need corn at the Gulf. Export shipments were not too heavy, and part of that is, there's just not enough supply on the water yet," said John Zanker, market analyst at Risk Management Commodities.

USDA reported 420,000 tonnes of new sales to China on Wednesday during the 2020/2021 marketing year, the first large corn sale to the country since Sept. 22.

The US corn is 41% harvested, above the five-year average of 32% and industry estimate of 39%, USDA said on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, wheat traders gauged the significance of dry weather in the southern US Plains as winter wheat planting progresses.

"A lot of people would say that it's premature to rally a market on dry weather in October, in the middle of the planting season," said Vaclavik. "As soon as they put some rain in the forecast for the southern plains, it could change very quickly."