April 30, 2008
Brazil's soy trade slow this week as farmers await higher prices
Brazil's soy business remains slow this week with no major deals being done, Steve Cachia, a soy market analyst at grain brokerage firm Cerealpar, said Tuesday.
With soy prices moving downward for the last few days, there's not a lot of interest to buy or sell, with many customers looking to see what will happen with the delayed planting of soys in the US, Cachia said.
The situation on US farms could push prices higher and farmers here are willing to speculate. Soy producers are just selling to ease any immediate cash flow issues, he added.
July soy futures fell 4 cents to US$12.93 a bushel on the CBOT Tuesday.
A trader at a major US soy trading company said that business is "really slow" this week with soy producers unwilling to sell due to the lower prices despite the dollar rising on Tuesday to 1.70 Brazilian reals.
Buyers at Paranagua were offering 40 cents under the May CBOT soy contract, with no major buyers this week.
"Companies like Bunge, ADM, Louis Dreyfus were sellers of volumes of around 10 to 15,000 tonnes," said a broker at Soma Corretora.
David Brew, a futures broker at Brasoja in Rio Grande do Sul, agreed that business is "slow and drawn out" this week, especially in the physical market. Rio Grande do Sul is one of the top three soy-producing states.
The impact of the rising US dollar and falling prices on CBOT Tuesday more or less cancel each other out, he said.
According to farm consultancy AgRural, Brazil's 2007-08 soy crop was 89 percent harvested as of April 28.
AgRural estimated the No. 1 soy producing state, Mato Grosso, has harvested all of its crop, estimated to be around 17.1 million tons, while No. 2 Parana has harvested 98 percent of its crop, estimated to come in at 13.1 million tons.
AgRural estimated that Brazilian soy growers planted 22.18 million hectares of soys this season and will harvest 63 million metric tons.
Brazil is the world's No. 2 soy exporter behind the US.
