(Reuters) – U.S. soy rose 0.8 percent on Tuesday, recovering from its lowest in more than three months on expectations China will step up imports with prices easing from record highs.
Corn snapped two straight sessions of losses on bargain-hunting by end-users and was supported by tight global supplies following the worst U.S. drought in half a century.
Soybean export premiums on the U.S. Gulf Coast were near steady on Monday, underpinned by slow farmer sales of newly harvested soybeans and solid demand from top importer China, traders said.
Chinese buyers were expected to buy more U.S. soybeans for November to January shipment as major South American suppliers have sold out until their next harvest in early 2013.
“Today’s bounce is largely driven by bargain-hunting as end users are taking this opportunity to lock supplies,” said Lynette Tan, analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.
“Corn supplies are going to be very tight and any dip in prices will allow importers to buy.”
Chicago Board of Trade November soy rose 0.8 percent to $15.03-3/4 a bushel by 0315 GMT. December corn gained 0.6 percent to $7.42 a bushel and December wheat added 0.9 percent to $8.55-1/2 a bushel.
Soybean futures have tumbled 16 percent from the all-time high of $17.94-3/4 a bushel set on Sept. 4, while corn has declined 12 percent from its peak of $8.43-3/4 a bushel on Aug. 10.
U.S. farmers had harvested 79 percent of their corn crop and 71 percent of their soybean crop as of Sunday, their pace slowing down from previous weeks due to rainy conditions, a U.S. Department of Agriculture report said.
Analysts had been expecting the corn harvest to be 80 percent complete and the soybean harvest 71 percent complete, according to the average of estimates in a Reuters poll.
Soybeans have dropped for the last four consecutive weeks, weighed down by late rains improving U.S. yields and hopes of record production in South America.
The USDA, in its monthly demand and supply report on Thursday, raised its estimate of the soybean yield by 7 percent to 37.8 bushels per acre and above trade estimates for 37.0 bushels. Soybean production this year was raised 8.5 percent to 2.860 billion bushels.
The USDA has forecast Brazil’s soybean crop for next year at 81.0 million tonnes, up from this year’s output of 66.5 million, with Argentina’s crop next year was pegged at 55.0 million tonnes, up from this season’s harvest of 41.0 million.
A cold front that moved into southeastern Brazil over the weekend will also likely bring light rainfall to the country’s main soy belt this week as farmers step up planting, local forecaster Somar said.
Rains that have slowed Argentine corn sowing are expected to give way to sunshine by midweek, setting the stage for easy planting of the country’s key soy crop, according to climate experts in the grains-exporting powerhouse.
