Soybeans Rally From Five-Week Low as China Boosts Purchases for Reserves

November 18th, 2011

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Category: Grains, Oilseeds

Soybeans take a hit(Bloomberg) – Soybeans rebounded from a five-week low after China, the world’s biggest buyer, boosted purchases to rebuild state inventories. Wheat also climbed.

January-delivery soybeans rose as much as 0.7 percent to $11.765 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and were at $11.7625 by 9:40 a.m. London time. The oilseed fell to $11.62 a bushel yesterday, the lowest price since Oct. 10, and is set to be little changed this week.

U.S. exporters sold 420,000 metric tons of soybeans to China for delivery in the 2011-2012 marketing year that began Sept. 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported yesterday. China bought about 600,000 tons from the U.S. on Nov. 15 to boost government stockpiles, according to people familiar with the transaction.

“We have seen significant purchases over the past few days and the weekly export numbers out of the U.S., with respect to beans, weren’t too bad so that is supportive,” Luke Mathews, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), said by phone from Sydney.

Soybean export sales from the U.S., the largest shipper, rose 24 percent to 751,200 tons as of Nov. 10, from 606,800 tons a week earlier, according to the USDA.

Wheat for March delivery gained 0.7 percent to $6.16 a bushel, after falling the most in five weeks yesterday. The grain is set for a 4.6 percent drop this week.

Corn Declines

Corn for March delivery added 0.3 percent to $6.25 a bushel, set for a 3.5 percent decline this week. Futures slumped 4.4 percent yesterday, the most since Sept. 30.

“This wider risk-off attitude that we’ve seen swoop through the markets again over the past 24 hours looks as though it’s still having an influence,” Mathews said. “That’s one of the things that’s holding the corn market in particular.”

Asian stocks fell, with the regional benchmark index heading for the lowest close in six weeks, amid concern about bad loans in China’s property sector and growing evidence that Europe’s debt crisis is infecting major economies. The euro is poised for its second-straight weekly drop against the yen amid concern European policy makers can’t stop the region’s debt crisis from affecting larger economies including Spain, Italy and France.

To contact the reporter for this story: Phoebe Sedgman in Melbourne at psedgman2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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