(Wall Street Journal) – U.S. soybean futures were trading higher Monday, fueled by tight supplies of the oilseed and warmer, drier weather forecasts for the U.S. Farm Belt.
Chicago Board of Trade soybeans for July delivery gained 11 cents, or 0.7%, to $15.99 a bushel. November soybeans rose 14 cents, or 1.1%, to $12.42 1/4.
Traders were still focused on tight near-term supplies, with spot prices climbing in an attempt to ration remaining supplies from last year’s harvest. “New crop” futures, such as the November contract, that represent crops that will be harvested in autumn, were higher on less favorable crop weather forecasts.
“Tight supplies continue to boost soy prices for near-term delivery, with changes in weather forecasts encouraging traders to take on risk,” said Darin Newsom, senior analyst with Telvent DTN, an agricultural media company.
A tight near-term supply situation has supported soybean prices for months, since droughts last year in the three major producers of the oilseed–the U.S., Brazil and Argentina–shrunk available stockpiles.
“We are seeing light end user buying, with speculative traders also buying futures amid the uncertainty of weather for developing crops,” Mr. Newsom said. “We are seeing a buying from traders chasing export headlines, but in reality those sales were factored into prices last week.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday private exporters reported selling 120,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to China during the 2013-14 marketing year and 135,000 metric tons of soybeans for delivery to unknown destinations during the 2013/2014 marketing year.
Otherwise, traders anticipate price action to remain choppy heading into Thursday’s supply and demand reports from federal forecasters and traders waiting to see development of weather for U.S. crops, Mr. Newsom said.
On tap for Monday, the USDA is scheduled to release its weekly export inspections report at 11 a.m. EDT and weekly crop progress report at 4 p.m. EDT.
