- USDA sees record corn, soy harvests and yields
- Chinese soy demand seen supporting price recovery
Adds comment, updates prices
MANILA, Aug 15 (Reuters) – U.S. soybean futures climbed more than 1 percent on Monday, recovering from losses in the previous session after the U.S. Department of Agriculture projected a record harvest, with demand from top market China seen staying strong.
Corn and wheat tracked the gains in soybeans, helping corn bounce back after falling to its weakest since 2014.
In its monthly outlook, the USDA on Friday pegged the corn crop at 15.153 billion bushels, based on an average yield of 175.1 bushels per acre, while the soybean harvest was seen at 4.060 billion bushels, with yields expected to average 48.9 bushels per acre. Both topped the high end of market expectations.
Good weather for crop development during July across broad swaths of the U.S. Midwest, the key growing area for corn and soybeans, allowed crops to mature with relatively little stress.
While global soybean supply is high, particularly in the United States, “demand from China is looking pretty favourable,” said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist at National Australia Bank.
“Having said that, supply looks very good. It’d be hard to see any upside for prices in the medium term,” he said.
The most-traded soybeans contract on the Chicago Board of Trade Sv1 rose 1.3 percent to $9.94-3/4 per bushel by 0244 GMT. It fell as much as 2.2 percent to $9.62-1/2 on Friday.
Chicago corn Cv1 was up 0.8 percent at $3.35-3/4 a bushel. The contract touched $3.22-1/2 on Friday, its lowest since October 2014.
Corn recovered to close firmer on Friday, which some analysts attribute to firm demand for the grain as animal feed going forward.
“Global feed demand is growing strongly, so perhaps the market is realising that the scale of supply required for ‘comfort’ will also need to be higher,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Tobin Gorey said in a note.
Chicago wheat Wv1 climbed 0.7 percent to $4.25–1/2 per bushel.
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