Soybeans Drop in Chicago as China Poised to Release Stockpiles

By Luzi Ann Javier

July 21 (Bloomberg) -- Soybean futures in Chicago declined on speculation that crushers in China, the world’s biggest importer, may slow overseas purchases as the government releases local stockpiles for sale into the domestic market.

China will auction 500,000 metric tons of soybeans on July 23, the state-backed China National Grain and Oils Information Center said yesterday. The sale is meant to ensure local supplies are adequate and to stabilize prices, the center said in a separate report July 17.

“That’s one of the main reasons” soybean prices fell, Jonathan Barratt, managing director at Commodity Broking Services Pty in Sydney, said today. Prices are “coming back from an awful big high. This is just a correction,” he said.

Soybeans for November delivery fell as much as 0.8 percent to $9.1550 a bushel in after-hours electronic trade on the Chicago Board of Trade, after adding 0.2 percent earlier. The contract traded at $9.1650 at 2:40 p.m. in Singapore.

The most-active soybean futures contract has fallen 26 percent from a nine-month high of $12.365 on June 5 on concern that favorable weather in the U.S. will boost yields in the world’s biggest grower and exporter, increasing global supplies.

China’s soybean imports totaled a record 4.71 million tons in June, according to customs data. The sale from state stockpiles planned for next week would be 11 percent of that figure, according to Bloomberg calculations.

Wheat Declines

Wheat for September delivery was little changed at $5.4275 a bushel in Chicago at 2:41 p.m. Singapore time, after declining as much as 0.4 percent earlier.

Weather in the northern plains of the U.S. will help developing wheat crops, DTN Meteorlogix LLC said in a report yesterday. No significant delays to the remaining harvest are expected in the eastern Midwest, it said. The Midwest is the largest growing region in the U.S.

About 72 percent of the winter-wheat crop was harvested as of July 19, up from 66 percent a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday.

Wheat exports from the U.K. expanded 11 percent to 233,238 tons in May from 209,295 tons a month earlier, according to customs data released yesterday.

Morocco’s soft-wheat harvest more than doubled in June through the first half of July to 1.51 million tons from 713,000 tons a year earlier, ONICL, the government grain office, said in a report.

Corn for December delivery lost as much as 1 percent to $3.3050 a bushel in Chicago at 2:36 p.m. Singapore time after rising as much as 0.4 percent earlier.

Cool temperatures in the Midwest will be favorable for pollinating the corn crop, Meteorlogix said in a separate report. Rain has come in time to ease the stress to corn crops in the northern plains of China, it said. China is the world’s second- biggest corn grower and consumer, according to the USDA.

To contact the reporter on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at javier@bloomberg.net