(Bloomberg) – Soybeans climbed for a second day as demand for U.S. supplies increased and palm oil, crushed to make an alternative used in foods and fuel, rallied to the highest level in eight months. Corn rose.
The contract for January delivery gained as much as 0.5 percent at $12.765 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and was at $12.755 at 10:59 a.m. in Singapore. Prices are still headed for a second monthly loss in October.
Soybeans fell 9.5 percent this year on expectations that U.S. output will recover from last year’s drought-affected harvest and Brazil’s crop will climb to a record, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates. U.S. exporters shipped 83.6 million bushels overseas in the week to Oct. 24, the second-most ever, the USDA said Oct. 28. Palm rose to the highest since February in Malaysia as rain may disrupt output.
“We’re continuing to see strong demand for U.S. soybeans, and that factor remains supportive for prices,” Luke Mathews, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said by phone from Sydney. “The strength that we’re seeing in Malaysian palm oil” is also supporting prices, he said.
Palm oil for delivery in January advanced as much as 1.4 percent to 2,533 ringgit ($803) a metric ton on the Bursa Malaysia Derivatives, the highest since Feb. 22. Prices are heading for the biggest monthly increase since December 2010.
U.S. farmers may harvest 3.149 billion bushels of soybeans, 4.4 percent more than last year, the USDA said on Sept. 12. Production in Brazil, last year’s biggest exporter, may total 88 million tons, it forecast.
Corn for delivery in December gained 0.2 percent to $4.33 a bushel after touching $4.2825 yesterday, the lowest since August 2010. Wheat for December delivery advanced 0.3 percent to $6.8325 a bushel.
