Soybeans stay firm on US-China hopes, Brazil weather risks
PARIS/SINGAPORE: Chicago soybean futures rose for a fourth straight session on Monday to a three-week high, as trade talks between Washington and Beijing raised hopes of fresh US exports and dry weather in Brazil stirred harvest concerns.
Corn was almost unchanged while wheat edged lower, consolidating after last week's gains.
Price moves were modest as investors remained cautious about the outcome of the US-China trade negotiations while a lack of official data during a partial US government shutdown was depriving grain markets of visibility on exports.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board Of Trade was up 0.4 percent at $9.25 a bushel by 1232 GMT, after climbing to its highest since Dec. 12 at $9.26.
CBOT corn was inched up a quarter of a cent to $3.83-1/4 a bushel, while wheat eased 0.4 percent to $5.15 a bushel.
"Markets have been boosted by the relaxation in US-China trade relations and climatic threats," consultancy Agritel said in a note. "The hydric deficit is persisting in Brazil and is weakening soybean yields."
The start of two-day talks between the United States and China to resolve a tariff dispute supported expectations of further purchases of US soybeans by Beijing after it resumed deals last month as part of a negotiating truce.
In Brazil, which shipped huge volumes of soybeans to China during the recent tariff row between Beijing and Washington, dry conditions have tempered expectations of a record harvest.
A grain growers group said on Friday that Brazilian soy farmers face the prospect of more crop failures.
Consultancy INTL FCStone cut its estimate of Brazil's soybean crop by about 4 million tonnes to 116.25 million tonnes due to a drought affecting some areas.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) delayed several major domestic and world crop reports because of the two-week-old partial government shutdown, the agency said on Friday.
New release dates for the monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report and other data originally scheduled for Friday, Jan. 11 will be set once government funding is restored, USDA said.
The wheat market was awaiting the outcome of a tender issued by major importer Algeria.
News that a cargo of Argentine wheat sold to Algeria had been rejected fuelled speculation about quality problems, although the country's wheat industry association said it was an isolated case.
Argentine wheat competes with European Union and US wheat to supply Algeria, one of the few import markets where top supplier Russia is not present.