Soybeans Rise from One-Week Low, Market Eyes U.S. Weather

(Reuters) – Soybean prices edged up on Monday, recovering from their lowest in more than a week hit earlier in the session on forecasts of dry weather that is expected to help harvesting of a record U.S. crop.

Wheat ticked up after closing lower for the last two sessions, while corn lost ground.

Chicago Board of Trade’s most-active soybean contract had risen 0.3 percent to $9.58-1/4 a bushel by 0351 GMT, having earlier hit its lowest since Sept. 16 at $9.49-1/4 a bushel.

Corn slid 0.2 percent to $3.36 a bushel and wheat added 0.4 percent to $4.06-1/2 a bushel. “Harvest delays have continued in saturated portions of the U.S. upper Midwest,” said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

“Forecasters though expect drier conditions will prevail over the next 10 days or so, which will assist harvesting elsewhere. Reports of big crop yields continue to roll in.”

Heavy rains and flooding swamped a broad swathe of the northern Midwest, halting the harvest of corn and soybeans and forcing the closure of at least two Iowa crop processing plants, traders and farmers said on Friday.

Farmers’ concerns grew that standing water in fields could damage unharvested crops, while floodwaters swelled the Mississippi River and threatened to disrupt the loading of export-bound grain barges.

The corn market faced pressure from China’s move on Friday to slap anti-dumping duties on U.S. animal feed ingredient distillers’ dried grains amid an intensifying spat between the world’s two largest economies over agricultural trade.

The wheat market is finding some support as India is likely to buy large volumes from the international market after two years of lower production.

The South Asian nation on Friday cut import taxes on wheat, crude palm oil and refined vegetable oils, a finance ministry order showed, as part of efforts to curb food inflation.

Commodity funds were net sellers of CBOT soybean, corn and wheat futures contracts on Friday. They were also net sellers of soymeal and soyoil.

Grains prices at  0351 GMT

Contract    Last    Change  Pct chg  Two-day chg  MA 30   RSI

CBOT wheat  406.50  1.75    +0.43%   +0.25%       412.62  66

CBOT corn   336.00  -0.50   -0.15%   -0.22%       333.78  59

CBOT soy    958.25  3.25    +0.34%   -1.87%       975.68  39

CBOT rice   9.78    $0.13   +1.30%   +1.19%       $9.84   55

WTI crude   44.82   $0.34   +0.76%   -3.24%       $45.72  50

Currencies

Euro/dlr    $1.123  $0.000  +0.04%   +0.17%

USD/AUD     0.7613  0.000   -0.07%   -0.38%

Most active contracts

Wheat, corn and soy US cents/bushel. Rice: USD per

hundredweight

RSI 14, exponential