Soy rise ahead of US crop reserve forecasts

Soy rose the most in almost a week on speculation that US crop reserves may be lower than earlier estimates.

Soy for March delivery rose as much as 14 cents, or 1.5%, on the CBOT, the biggest intraday gain since February 2. The most-active contract traded at US$9.24 a bushel. The price fell 0.1% last week, the fifth weekly loss.

Meanwhile, corn for March delivery gained as much as 5.25 cents, or 1.5%, to US$3.5675 a bushel, and traded at US$3.555. The most-active contract declined 1.4% last week in its fourth weekly loss.

According to reports, USDA may reduce its estimate of corn reserves to 1.75 billion bushels in the February 9 report from a previous estimate of 1.76 billion.

Wheat for March delivery rose as much as 8 cents, or 1.7%, to US$4.8125 a bushel and last traded at US$4.805 a bushel. The price lost 0.2% last week, extending losses for a fourth week.

Demand for grain and oilseeds used in animal feed in Southeast Asia may climb 3% in 2010 from last year driven by expanding meat production in Vietnam and Indonesia, Adel Yusupov, regional director for Southeast Asia at the US Grains Council, said.

Processors may use 49.5 million tonnes of ingredients including corn, feed wheat, rice bran, soybean meal and copra meal in feed for animals including hogs and poultry, Yuspov said.

In the physical market, the Korea Feed Association, South Korea's biggest grain-buying group, bought 55,000 tonnes of corn through private negotiations last week, according to two executives familiar with the trade. The group paid US$219.75 a tonne on a cost-and-freight basis for arrival by July 10, they said.

Corn is the biggest US crop, valued at US$47.4 billion in 2008, followed by soy at US$27.4 billion, government data show.