(Reuters) – U.S. soybeans edged up on Wednesday with the most-active January contract trading near a three-month top, as slow farmer selling and robust export demand helped offset a record-large harvest.
Wheat ticked lower, after rising for two sessions amid a cold spell in the U.S. Midwest that is likely to stall the emergence of soft red winter wheat. Corn was largely unchanged.
“Physical prices have been pretty strong as the market in the U.S. is still caught short as far as soymeal goes,” said Paul Deane, an agricultural economist at ANZ Bank in Melbourne.
“The level of export sales for soybeans has left some of the domestic users in the United States short.”
Chicago Board of Trade January soybeans rose 0.1 percent to $10.64-1/2 a bushel by 0207 GMT, near a three-month top of $10.73-1/2 hit on Tuesday, while front-month wheat eased 0.1 percent to $5.24-1/2 a bushel.
Spot soybean basis bids were mostly steady to firm around the U.S. Midwest on strong demand for nearby supplies and scattered farmer sales.
Many farmers continued to store newly harvested crops because of dissatisfaction with low prices, traders said. Soybean sales outpaced corn sales on Tuesday, but they were not as strong as they would typically be.
Concerns about a cold spell descending in the U.S. Farm Belt added support for soymeal, which is used in animal feed.
Brazil’s government crop supply agency Conab forecast a 2014/15 soybean crop of between 89.3 million tonnes and 91.7 million tonnes, still a record but below many market estimates that have gone as high as 98 million tonnes.
The cold spell in the U.S. Midwest this week will probably stall the emergence and growth of late-planted soft red winter wheat.
Ukrainian farmers have sown 6.3 million hectares of winter wheat for the 2015 grain harvest as of Nov. 10, exceeding the original forecast by 100,000 hectares, the agriculture ministry said.
