March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Soybeans rose in Chicago, rebounding from three declines in a row and narrowing this week’s drop, on signs that shipping bottlenecks in Brazil are encouraging importers to seek U.S. supplies.
U.S. export sales of soybeans for delivery before Aug. 31 more than doubled from a week earlier to 657,724 metric tons in the week ended March 7, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. At major ports in Brazil, 195 ships set to haul 11.7 million tons of soybeans and soybean products were berthed, arrived and expected as of yesterday, 14 more than a week ago, SA Commodities and Unimar Agenciamentos Maritimos said.
“You would have expected U.S. exports to have gone down to a trickle by this time of year, with everything going down to South America,” said Dave Norris, an independent grain broker in Harrogate, England. “But clearly there is interest in North American beans because of shipping delays in South America.”
Soybeans for delivery in May climbed 0.3 percent to $14.395 a bushel at 8:30 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. The oilseed touched a two-week low yesterday and is set for a 2.1 percent loss this week.
Brazil’s soybean harvest was 48 percent complete, crop researcher Safras said March 11. The country is set to overtake the U.S. as the biggest global exporter in the 2012-13 marketing year, according to the USDA, which estimates Brazil will harvest a record 83.5 million tons of the oilseed this season.
Corn Sales
Corn for delivery in May fell 0.2 percent to $7.1525 a bushel, heading for a 1.7 percent weekly gain. U.S. exporters sold 653,318 tons of the grain for delivery this marketing year and next in the week ended March 7, more than quadruple the amount a week earlier, the USDA said yesterday.
Wheat for delivery in May dropped 0.4 percent to $7.215 a bushel after six sessions of advances. The most-active contract headed for a 3.5 percent gain this week, the biggest since the week ended Jan. 18. Total net sales of U.S. wheat rose 31 percent to 1.09 million tons in the week ended March 7.
In Paris, milling wheat for delivery in May rose 0.2 percent to 235 euros ($307) a ton on NYSE Liffe. The grain headed for a 2.1 percent weekly climb, the largest since November.
--With assistance from Chanyaporn Chanjaroen in Singapore and Daniel Grillo in Sao Paulo. Editors: Dan Weeks, Nicholas Larkin.
To contact the reporters on this story: Whitney McFerron in London at wmcferron1@bloomberg.net; Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore at ljavier@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Deane at jdeane3@bloomberg.net
