Soybeans climb to eight-month high on South American supply worries

SINGAPORE: Chicago soybean futures rose more than 1% on Monday to their highest since June on concerns over supplies from South America and strong demand from China.

Corn climbed to its highest in a week while wheat moved higher for a second straight session.

"We are looking at soybean crop losses across South America, not just Brazil," said one Singapore-based trader at a company which runs oilseed processing facilities in China.

"Going forward, we have to see Chinese demand for a price direction."

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) hit its highest since June 2021 at $15.79 a bushel.

The market was up 0.9% at $15.67-3/4 a bushel, as of 0421 GMT.

Corn added 0.9% to $6.26 a bushel and wheat rose 0.7% to $7.68-1/2 a bushel.

Crop watchers have been cutting their South American corn and soybean crop projections because of adverse weather, including drought, heat waves and excessive rains.

China scoops up US soyabeans for next year but corn plans unclear

Argentina's soybean crop faces a make-or-break period ahead as the risk of drought creeps back, with rainfall "erratic" and heavy precipitation looking unlikely until the second half of the month, the Rosario grains exchange said in a weather report.

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday confirmed 295,000 tonnes in US soybean export sales to undisclosed buyers, the latest in a string of sales announcements last week.

Grain traders are beginning to square positions as they look ahead to this week's USDA crop supply and demand reports, which are expected to show tighter grain and oilseed supplies and smaller crops in Brazil and Argentina.

Large speculators raised their net long position in CBOT corn futures in the week to Feb. 1, regulatory data released on Friday showed.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission's weekly commitments of traders report also showed that non-commercial traders, a category that includes hedge funds, increased their net short position in CBOT wheat and raised their net long position in soybeans.