Friday, 20 March 2015 13:03
SYDNEY: Chicago soybeans rose on Friday as the dollar softened, but prices were set for a third straight weekly drop on signs demand was weakening for US supplies ahead of a bumper South American crop.
The dollar has come off peaks set last week after the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday lowered its assessment on the economy. Most of Wall Street’s top banks now see the Fed holding off until at least September before raising rates.
The fall in the US dollar is providing some temporary relief, Tobin Gorey, director, agricultural strategy, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, said in a note to clients, but fundamentals are bearish for prices.
“Prices are now at near recent lows again. Brazilian supply is, or is about to, come to market. Supply hitting the market will test the market’s resilience.”
Chicago Board of Trade May soybeans rose 0.2 percent to $ 9.63-1/2 a bushel, having closed down 0.34 percent in the previous session. Prices are down 1 percent so far this week, bringing losses over three weeks to almost 7 percent.
Brazil, one of the world’s largest exporters of soybeans, is forecast to export nearly 47 million tonnes of the oilseed this season, with a weaker currency increasing the appeal.
The US Department of Agriculture said on Thursday that soybean export sales in the latest reporting weak were 342,000 tonnes, the second lowest in two months.
May wheat rose 0.7 percent to $ 5.15-1/2 a bushel, having closed up 0.25 percent in the previous session.
Wheat is up over 2 percent for the week, its second straight weekly rise, on concerns over potential yield losses due to unseasonable dry weather across key US production regions.
May corn rose 0.7 percent to $ 3.76 a bushel, after slipping 0.3 percent on Thursday. But prices are poised for a more than 1 percent drop for the week, a third weekly fall.
Old-crop export sales of corn came in at 502,300 tonnes in the latest week, near the low end of market forecasts for 500,000 to 700,000 tonnes, USDA data shows.
Copyright Reuters, 2015
