CHICAGO: Chicago soyabean futures gained on Wednesday, touching a one-week high as recent rains in South America do little to aid drought-stricken crops, making US beans more attractive on the world market, traders said.
Wheat fell slightly as US and global supply outlooks remain strong, while corn was choppy, paring early declines and turning higher at times as soyabeans climbed.
The most-active soyabean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade was up 19-1/4 cents at $10.83-1/2 a bushel by 12:29 p.m. CT (1829 GMT).
CBOT corn was down 1.4 cents at $4.00-3/4 a bushel and wheat was down 3-1/4 cents at $6.04-3/4 a bushel.
Parts of Brazil’s soya areas have received rains this week, but other areas need moisture, and a La Nina weather pattern remains a risk for South American crops.
“We’re stronger in soya, oil and meal, and that can be somewhat attributed to weather in South America. They’re still in need of rain down there,” said Joe Davis, director of commodity sales at Futures International.
Traders also have begun looking ahead to the US Department of Agriculture’s Nov. 10 supply/demand reports, which some analysts expect to show scaled-back US soyabean yields and increased export forecasts. “If you take one bushel away from the yield and add 50 million bushels of demand,” said Karl Setzer, commodity risk analyst at AgriVisor. “That’s what’s giving trade a little more enthusiasm.”
US corn ending stocks, currently projected by USDA at more than 2.1 billion bushels, could also decline due to brisk demand, said Terry Roggensack, analyst with the Hightower Report.
“I think people are looking at something closer to a 1.6 (billion-bushel) carry-out,” Roggensack said.
Traders said the pending results of the US presidential election, which may not be clear for some time, had little impact on grain markets on Wednesday. “Ag traders are focused known fundamentals versus unknown election issues,” StoneX chief commodities economist Arlan Suderman wrote in a client note.