(Bloomberg) – Soybeans slipped, headed for a third weekly drop, on expectations wet weather in South America will help boost crops being planted. Corn and wheat declined.
Rain in Brazil will increase in coming days and become widespread early next week, covering 90 percent of corn and soybeans, MDA Weather Services wrote in a report yesterday. The rain will ease much of the dryness across southern Goias, Minas Gerais, Sao Paulo and Parana in Brazil, the forecaster said.
Soybeans for January delivery fell 0.1 percent to $10.1925 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade by 5:18 a.m. Prices are 0.3 percent lower this week, and a third straight weekly loss would be the longest such run since the period to Sept. 26.
“Forecasters are predicting that South American rainfall will leave all but a few minor areas with ideal moisture conditions for planting and establishment,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia wrote in an e-mailed note today.
Output in Brazil, the second-biggest producer, may climb 8.4 percent to 94 million tons, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicts. The area planted in Argentina may total 20.1 million hectares in 2014-2015, 2 percent more than the previous season, the Agriculture Ministry said yesterday.
Farmers in Parana, Brazil’s second-biggest soybean growing state, are finalizing soybean planting after the pace picked up following rain last month, Michael Cordonnier, the president of Soybean & Corn Advisor Inc., wrote in an online comment.
“While the recent rains have generally been enough to ensure planting, they have not been heavy enough to fully recharge the depleted soil moisture,” Cordonnier wrote. “Farmers are hoping that they will receive rain in time for adequate germination.”
Corn for March delivery fell 0.4 percent to $3.8475 a bushel, heading for a weekly loss. Wheat for delivery in March declined 0.7 percent to $5.485 a bushel, also set for a drop this week, while milling wheat for January delivery rose 0.1 percent to 175 euros ($217.55) a metric ton.
