April 27, 2010
Brazil soy exports may face disruption on rains
Soy shipping from Brazil may face disruptions due to rains at the peak of the export season, according to the head of commodity exports at Paranagua port.
Luiz Antonio Borges da Silva, head of commodity exports at the soy-shipping port, said ship loading at Paranagua was interrupted in the last three days because of rains. A 30-kilometre (19-mile) line of trucks is parked at the port's inspection area waiting to unload newly harvested beans and is close to full capacity, Silva said. The bulk of soy exports occur between March and May.
Weather institute Simepar, based in Curitiba, Brazil, forecasts rain may persist until April 28.
Soy output in Brazil, the world's biggest oilseed producer after the US, will rise to 67.4 million tonnes, from 57.2 million tonnes in the previous year, crop forecasting agency Conab said April 7.
Meanwhile, soy futures rose for the first time in three sessions in Chicago, prompting buyers to seek US supplies.
Soy for July delivery rose 0.2% to US$10.1075 a bushel on the CBOT at 1:09 p.m., reversing a 0.4 percent drop earlier. The contract touched US$10.20 yesterday, the highest level since January 11.
Cash premiums for soy shipped to export terminals near New Orleans widened relative to Chicago futures after a drop in prices from a three-month high discouraged US farmers from selling inventories.
The spot-basis bid, or premium, for deliveries this month was 40 cents to 46 cents a bushel above May futures on April 26 on the CBOT, compared with 41 cents to 42 cents on April 23, USDA data show. A week earlier, premiums were 36 cents to 38 cents.
On the other hand, July-delivery corn was unchanged at US$3.595 a bushel at 1:17 p.m. Singapore time, after losing as much as 0.7% earlier.
Futures fell earlier on speculation that favourable weather and faster planting is raising the yield outlook of the biggest US crop. About 50% of the corn crop was seeded as of April 25, compared with 19% a week earlier and 20% last year, the USDA said earlier.
