Soy rebound after slump as US inventories top forecasts

 

 

Corn, soy and wheat futures gained after tumbling on a report showing US inventories were larger than expected.

 

Investors bought futures after prices slumped overnight, according to analysts.

 

Rabobank said corn stocks figure was surprisingly high coming in at the upper end of analyst expectations. Corn inventories jumped to 7.694 billion bushels from 6.954 billion the previous year, topping the 7.504 billion expected in a survey.

 

While soy inventories are down 2.4% from a year earlier after a surge in demand from China, total reserves fell short of the 1.205 billion bushels expected by analysts.

 

US farmers may plant a record acreage of soy this year and the second-biggest area of corn since 1946, after sowing the fewest acres with winter wheat since 1913, the USDA said.

 

Soy futures for May delivery gained as much as 0.5% to US$9.455 a bushel on the CBOT, before trading at US$9.4475 a bushel at 11:18 a.m. in Singapore. The most-active contract fell 3.4% in Chicago yesterday, the biggest decline since December. The commodity dropped 10% in the first quarter, the largest decline since the third quarter of 2008.

 

Corn futures for May delivery rose 0.6% to US$3.47 a bushel. The price touched US$3.4425 yesterday, the lowest level since Oct. 6, and has dropped 16% this year.

 

Growers may increase corn planting by 2.7% to 88.798 million acres (35.9 million hectares), up from 86.482 million last year, the USDA said.

 

Winter wheat, seeded from September through November, was sown on 37.7 million acres, down 13% from a year earlier and 1.6% higher than a January estimate, the USDA said.

 

Wheat futures for May delivery gained 0.8% to US$4.675 a bushel, after touching a five-month low of US$4.50 a bushel. The grain has dropped 18% this year.