CANBERRA: Chicago soybean futures rose on Wednesday, helped by US export sales, rising crude oil prices and worries over production in top exporter Brazil.
Wheat and corn futures inched higher.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.5% at $13.19 a bushel by 0413 GMT.
Prices fell 1.1% on Tuesday as weather forecasts suggested that key growing areas in Brazil would get some much-needed rainfall in the coming days, helping crops.
But a farm survey on Tuesday suggested that heat waves and scarce rainfall in Mato Grosso, the biggest grain state, would see soybean production there fall by more than 9 million metric tons to 36.15 million tons in the 2023/24 season.
StoneX analyst Arlan Suderman said he expected production estimates in Brazil to continue to trend lower.
“(But) the question is, will they fall enough to necessitate an increase in US exports that requires higher prices to ration US demand? We have no evidence of that being the case yet,” he said, adding that the US soybean market was currently adequately supplied.
In the United States, the Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed that exporters sold 132,000 tons of US soybeans to unknown destinations, the latest in a flurry of sales that have supported prices.
Oil, meanwhile, jumped towards $80 a barrel.
Higher crude prices put upward pressure on the market for ethanol, which can be made from soy. Chicago soybeans have slipped from above $15 a bushel at the start of the year but recovered from a two-year low of $12.51 in October.
Brazil’s soybean exports are currently running strong, surpassing 100 million tons already this year.
The country is forecast to ship 3.5 million tons of soybeans in December, up from 1.52 million in December 2022.
Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT soybean and corn futures and net buyers of wheat futures on Tuesday, traders said.
Trade routes have been disrupted by attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and off the coast of Somalia, with the United States launching a multinational operation to safeguard commerce.
In other crops, CBOT corn rose 0.1% to $4.73 a bushel and wheat climbed 0.2% to $6.23-3/4 a bushel.
Egypt’s state grains buyer said on Tuesday it bought 480,000 metric tons of Russian wheat in an international tender.
The tender underscored how much supply is still available from Russia. Cheap Russian shipments drove CBOT futures to a three-year low of $5.40 in September.
Ukraine’s deputy prime minister, meanwhile, said that 10 million metric tons of products have been exported to 24 countries through its alternative Black Sea corridor.
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