Soybeans Advance as USDA Report May Show Smaller Global Supply

By Luzi Ann Javier - Apr 10, 2012
BLOOMBERG
Soybeans climbed before a U.S. government report that may show smaller global supplies after drought deepened losses in South America.

The May-delivery contract gained as much as 0.4 percent to $14.3625 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, and traded at $14.3475 at 10:38 a.m. In China, the world’s largest buyer, the January-delivery contract climbed as much as 0.9 percent to 4,774 yuan ($757) a metric ton on the Dalian Commodity Exchange, the highest price for the most-active contract since Sept. 5.

Global reserves before this year’s Northern Hemisphere harvest may total 55.34 million tons, down from a U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate of 57.3 million tons in March, and 68.76 million tons last year, according to the average estimate of 19 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The next USDA outlook is due at 8:30 a.m. in Washington today.

“The market is clearly geared towards what’s expected in the USDA numbers,” Michael Creed, an agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank Ltd., said by phone from Melbourne.

Output (US38PRBR) in Brazil, the second-largest producer, may reach 66.77 million tons, smaller than the 68.5 million tons forecast by the USDA last month, and record 75.5 million tons last year, according to a separate Bloomberg survey of 20 analysts.

Corn for May delivery was little changed at $6.495 a bushel in Chicago after rising as much as 0.3 percent to $6.51. Wheat for the same month lost as much as 0.4 percent to $6.405 a bushel, before trading at $6.4125.