US soy, wheat rally on strong demand, inflation worries; corn firm

CHICAGO: US soybean futures jumped 2% on Wednesday to their highest in nearly seven weeks, supported by fresh export deals and strength in the domestic cash market.

Wheat and corn futures were also strong, with wheat recovering from a pullback on Tuesday to top the nine-year high it hit on Monday.

Inflation concerns fortified the entire grain market as commercial buyers scrambled to ensure they bought supplies to guard against further price rallies.

“It is more of an entrenched thing that prices are going to be higher in the future than they are today,” said Greg Grow, director of agribusiness at Archer Financial Services.

At 12:02 p.m. CST (1802 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade January soybean futures were up 25-1/4 cents at $12.72-1/2 a bushel, on track for their biggest daily gain since Aug. 24. On a continuous basis, the most-active contract hit its highest since Sept. 30.

Private exporters reported the sale of 132,000 tonnes of soybeans to China, the fourth trading day in a row the government has announced a deal for soybeans.

Strength in soymeal, stemming from expectations that hog producers will boost their usage as a shortage of lysine made corn-based feed less desirable, added support to soybeans, Grow said.

Soymeal futures were up 1.9% at a five-month high.

CBOT December wheat was 13 cents higher at $8.23-1/4 a bushel, with the market underpinned by concerns about tight global supplies and strong demand.

Algeria is set to take a substantial amount of Russian wheat in an import purchase of between 700,000 and 800,000 tonnes. Additionally, Egypt and the Philippines booked deals to buy wheat on Wednesday while Turkey issued a tender for supplies.

“Yesterday’s pullback is considered more technical than fundamental,” consultancy Agritel said. CBOT December corn was up 5 cents at $5.76 a bushel.