US soyabean futures climbed to an eight-month high on Tuesday on hopes that export demand could improve due to harvest delays in Argentina and strength in the currency of Brazil, another key exporter. Rains stalling Argentina's harvest could shift some sales to the United States, while the rise in Brazil's real makes exports less attractive in local currency terms, traders said. Both countries compete with the United States for business on the world market.
The US Department of Agriculture could add support to soyabean prices with a monthly supply and demand report due out at 11 a.m. CDT (1600 GMT), traders said. The agency is expected to trim its estimate for US soyabean inventories, according to a Reuters poll of analysts.
May soyabeans at the Chicago Board of Trade were up 0.8 percent at $9.35-1/2 a bushel by 10:20 a.m. CDT after rising to a peak of $9.37-1/4, the highest for the most-active contract since August 12. Wheat and corn futures also rose as the dollar touched its lowest level in nearly eight months against a basket of currencies. Weakness in the dollar makes US farm products more attractive to overseas buyers.
Most-active May corn jumped 2 percent to $3.63-3/4 a bushel, and May wheat was up 1.6 percent at $4.54-1/2 a bushel at the CBOT. Dealers said adverse weather in Brazil provided some support for the corn market. Forecasts for a record winter corn crop in Brazil look overly optimistic after summer rains ended sooner than expected with the weakening of El Nino weather patterns, which could prolong the country's recently aggressive imports of the grain. In the United States, the USDA on Monday rated 56 percent of the nation's winter wheat crop as good to excellent, down 3 percent from last week and below analysts' estimates.
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