Soybeans near 3-year low as LatAm supplies keep lid on prices

SINGAPORE: Chicago soybeans inched higher on Friday, with the market recovering from last session’s three-year low, although large South American supplies and lacklustre demand for US cargoes are expected to curb the upside potential in prices.

The wheat market faced headwinds from ample Black Sea supplies.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) added 0.4% to $11.45-1/4 a bushel, as of 0329 GMT.

The market dropped to its weakest since November 2020 at $11.28-1/2 a bushel on Thursday. Corn fell 0.1% to $4.29 a bushel and wheat lost 0.5% to $5.73-1/2 a bushel.

Soybeans fall as Brazil pours supply into market

For the week, corn is up 3.7%, the market’s first weekly rise in a month, wheat has added less than 1% and soybeans are largely flat.

Short-covering by speculative investors had helped grain markets bounce off lows, but plentiful supply in the Americas and the Black Sea region is likely to keep a lid on prices.

“US soybean producers continue to find themselves under pressure as, on the one hand, Mainland Chinese import demand appears uncertain and, on the other hand, Brazilian supplies are both voluminous and priced more competitively,” according to a report from BMI, a unit of Fitch Solutions.

Industry association Abiove cut its estimate for Brazil’s 2024 soybean output for the second time this month to 153.8 million metric tons due to adverse weather.

But Brazilian production would still be close to last year’s record crop of around 159 million tons.

The Buenos Aires grains exchange on Thursday left its forecasts unchanged for the 2023/24 corn and soybean harvest, halting a series of cuts in its estimates as recent rains provided relief to crops.

The grains exchange kept its forecast for the soybean harvest at 52.5 million tons, while corn estimates remained at 56.5 million tons.

Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT corn, wheat and soymeal futures contracts on Thursday, and net sellers of soybean futures, traders said. Funds were net even in soyoil, they said.