Soybeans Rally on Speculation China Will Boost Purchases
of U.S. Oilseeds
Soybeans rose to an eight-week high on speculation that China, the
biggest consumer, will purchase more of the oilseed from the U.S. to make up
for reduced domestic output.
U.S. exporters sold 116,000 metric tons to
China for delivery after Aug. 31, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said
today. China’s soybean crop was hurt by temperatures that reached 106
degrees Fahrenheit (41 degrees Celsius) in northeast regions during the past
seven days and too much rain in the south during the past month, said a
senior meteorologist at Planalytics Inc. in Berwyn, Pennsylvania.
“Chinese crops have been damaged,” said the
vice president of operations for FCStone LLC in West Des Moines, Iowa.
“China will be buying more soybeans” to feed an expanding livestock herd and
as more processing plants are built, Smoldt said.
Soybean futures for November delivery rose 7.25 cents, or 0.8 percent, to
$9.5325 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade after earlier touching
$9.5875, the highest price since May 14. The most-active futures rose 5.2
percent this week, the biggest gain since November.
Soybeans are the second-biggest U.S. crop, valued at $31.8 billion last
year, behind corn at $48.6 billion, government figures show.
