November 21, 2007

High soy prices climb to new record

Soy futures for January delivery gained 11.25 cents, or 1 percent, to US$10.89 a bushel in after-hours electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade as of 9:55 p.m. in London, the highest since June 1988. Most-active futures rose for the sixth consecutive week. The price has risen 63 percent in the past year after US farmers planted the fewest acres in 12 years to sow more corn.

Prices for soy in Chicago haven't been so high for almost two decades on speculation that demand for the oilseed will surpass global supplies.

The US Department of Agriculture in its November 9 estimates expects US reserve supply of soy in 2008 to be 210 million bushels or 63 percent less than this year. Importers currently need to rely on supplies of the new crop from the US and stockpiles of the old crop in South America.