(Businessweek) – Soybeans traded little changed even after China, the biggest buyer, bought from U.S. exporters as investors awaited a government report this week expected to show that planting in the country may rise to a record.
The oilseed for delivery in May was at $14.36 a bushel, from $14.3725 yesterday, on the Chicago Board of Trade by 10:40 a.m. in Singapore. The volume was 68 percent below the 100-day average for that time of day. Futures earlier rose 0.2 percent.
Farmers in the U.S. are forecast to plant 78.3 million acres (31.7 million hectares) this year, according to a Bloomberg survey. The nation’s inventories as of March 1 probably fell to 948 million bushels, the smallest for that quarter since 2004, a separate survey showed. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is due to release the acreage and stockpiles report on March 28.
“It’s hard to have a positive position” ahead of the USDA report, Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager for research at Nihon Unicom Inc., said in an e-mail from Tokyo today.
U.S. exporters sold 234,000 metric tons to China for delivery in the year starting Sept. 1, the USDA said yesterday. The Asian nation has already bought 4 million tons for delivery in the next marketing year as of March 14, USDA data show.
In Brazil, poised to be the world’s largest grower this year, about 209 vessels set to ship 12.4 million tons of soybeans and related products are berthed, arrived or expected at major ports as of March 25, according to SA Commodities and Unimar Agenciamentos Maritimos.
It may take six months to finish transporting Brazil’s soybean crops to ports and exported, Bunge Ltd. said Feb. 20. The South American nation was estimated by the USDA to export 38.4 million tons, surpassing the drought-hit U.S. as the largest shipper this year.
Corn for May delivery fell 0.2 percent to $7.315 a bushel in Chicago, while wheat added 0.2 percent to $7.285 a bushel.
The initial margin for new-crop corn futures contracts in Chicago will rise to $2,700 at the end of business today, from $2,025, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange said in a statement. The initial margin for hedges and members will rise to $2,000 from $1,500 for new-crop corn contracts, it said.
