By Luzi Ann Javier and Jae Hur
Aug. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Soybean futures gained for a second day, jumping as much as 2.5 percent, after the Professional Farmers of America said U.S. harvests may be smaller than expected. Corn and wheat also climbed.
Pro Farmer’s survey last week of soybean fields in the world’s biggest grower and exporter forecast output will be 3.15 billion bushels, less than the government estimate of 3.199 billion bushels.
“It’s a late crop this year,” John Reeve, director of agricultural commodities for Standard Chartered Plc, said today. “There are some early signs that’s not going very well.”
December-delivery soybeans rose as high as $9.975 a bushel in electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade and traded at $9.9450 a bushel at 3:16 p.m. in Singapore.
Soybeans for May delivery on the Dalian Commodity Exchange rallied as much as 2.9 percent to 3,733 yuan ($546) a metric ton before closing at 3,711 yuan.
The oilseed may rise to a record $20 a bushel amid low stockpiles in the U.S., a weaker dollar and increased demand as the global economy recovers, Standard Chartered’s Reeve said.
“Historically, August is the most volatile time for beans because that’s the pod-setting period in the U.S.,” Reeve said, referring to the crop development stage that helps to determine final yields. Soybeans touched a record $16.3675 in July 2008.
Corn Output
Pro Farmer, a marketing and information company, also forecast corn output in the world’s biggest grower and exporter will be 12.807 billion bushels, more than the 12.761 billion estimated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Aug. 12. The USDA’s next output estimate will be released Sept. 11.
Corn for December delivery added as much as 1.7 percent to $3.3175 a bushel in Chicago, before trading at $3.2975 bushel.
“If a Sept. 25 frost ends the season, neither corn nor soybeans will reach these levels,” Pro Farmer said. “A two- week-late frost could pump up final yields.” Many farmers will begin harvesting next month.
Wheat for December delivery in Chicago added 0.6 percent to $4.90 a bushel at 3:28 p.m. Singapore time. The price touched $4.855 on Aug. 19, the lowest in more than eight months.
Australia, the world’s fourth-largest wheat exporter, “urgently” needs rain in eastern grain regions as hot, dry weather damages the chance of meeting a government forecast for the biggest crop in four years, Luke Mathews, agri-commodity strategist with Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in an e-mailed report.
“Extremely hot conditions in northern New South Wales and Queensland over the weekend will have cut yield prospects,” Mathews wrote. “Widespread rain is urgently needed in those regions but no relief is in sight.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net; Jae Hur in Singapore at jhur1@bloomberg.net
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