Soybeans fell for a second straight
day on speculation that rain forecast during the next two weeks
will boost yield potential for crops in Brazil and Argentina,
the biggest exporters after the U.S. Corn futures were little
changed after paring losses.
As much as 2 inches (5.1 centimeters) of rain will boost
crops over the next two days in parts of Argentina that have not
received moisture for 17 days, with three more storms expected
during the next two weeks, QT Weather in Chicago said in a
report. Brazil will remain favorably wet, the forecaster said.
Combined soybean production by the two countries will rise 28
percent to a record, and corn output will gain 5.3 percent, the
USDA said Jan. 11.
“Million-dollar rains for recent dry areas of Argentina
are very bearish for beans,” Roy Huckabay, an executive vice
president for the Linn Group in Chicago, said in an e-mail.
“Argentina soybeans can still yield 5 percent over normal with
this type of early February rain.”
Soybean futures for March delivery fell 1 percent to $14.22
a bushel at 10:47 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, heading
for the biggest decline since Jan. 4. On Jan. 22, the most-
active futures touched $14.6075, the highest since Dec. 19.
Corn futures for March delivery rose less than 0.1 percent
to $7.21 a bushel in Chicago, after dropping as much as 0.9
percent.
Corn is the biggest U.S. crop, valued at $76.5 billion in
2011, followed by soybeans at $35.8 billion, government figures
show.
To contact the reporter on this story:
Jeff Wilson in Chicago at
jwilson29@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Steve Stroth at
sstroth@bloomberg.net