(BusinessWeek) – Soybeans rose on speculation that rain will slow the harvest in the U.S., the world’s top producer, boosting demand for prompt supply. Wheat closed at the highest since June, and corn erased a drop to a three-year low.
As much as 3 inches of rain in the next five days from North Dakota to Michigan also may reduce the quality of some soybeans ready for harvest, World Weather Inc. Overland Park, Kansas, said in a report. As of Sept. 29, the harvest trailed the average in the past five years, government data showed.
“Some delays are going to tighten up available supplies,” Dan Cekander, the director of grain market analysis at Newedge USA LLC in Chicago, said in a telephone interview. “There’s a big line of boats waiting to load” for exports, and domestic processors need supplies to make animal feed, he said.
Soybean futures for November delivery rose 0.5 percent to close at $12.7375 a bushel at 1:15 p.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Yesterday, the oilseed touched $12.635, the lowest for a most-active contract since Aug. 16. The price has dropped 9.6 percent this year on speculation that U.S. production will recover from a drought in 2012.
Wheat futures for December delivery rose 0.7 percent to $6.86 a bushel, the highest settlement since June 24. Two days ago, the USDA said inventories as of Sept. 1 trailed estimates by analysts.
Corn futures for December delivery were unchanged at $4.39 a bushel. Earlier, the price touched $4.35, the lowest since Aug. 31, 2010.
The USDA suspended reports on crop and livestock data because of the federal government’s partial shutdown. The National Agricultural Statistics Service won’t issue statistics while employees are furloughed from duty, the agency said on Sept. 30.
