Soyabeans rise to six-week high

Chicago Board of Trade soyabeans rose to a six-week high on Tuesday on the potential for increased US demand as world buyers worry about supply disruptions in Brazil because of a trucker strike and rains stalling harvest, traders said. Additional support stemmed from a tight supply of soyabeans at US Gulf export terminals as icy US Midwest rivers after a week of frigid temperatures slowed barges headed to US Gulf export terminals.
But soyabeans came off their highs late amid reports the Brazilian government was fining truckers for blocking the roads, a sign the strike may be ending, traders said. Corn and wheat also sagged late - after early gains - following the volatile soyabean trade. Traders had been expecting China, the world's top soya buyer, to begin shifting its business from the United States to South America where the harvest is under way. But Brazilian truckers protesting high fuel prices blocked main roads there, slowing the movement of grain to Paranagua, the country's second-largest grain hub.
"The Chinese are watching this truck strike pretty closely as to whether it shifts any nearby float demand to the US I don't think it has - but if continues longer, it could," one-cash-connected US trader said. Rain across north-western Brazil, the largest soyabean production state, was stalling harvests and also keeping the pipeline supply thin, traders said. CBOT March soyabeans closed 16-3/4 cents up, or 1.7 percent, at $10.16 a bushel - after notching a six-week high of $10.29.
"So far, Brazilian harvest selling has been guarded," said Rich Feltes, vice president of commodity research for brokerage R.J. O'Brien. "It will be interesting to see how much cash moves in response to the bean market breaking out to a new high." CBOT March corn ended down 1-1/4 cent, or 0.3 percent, at $3.77-1/2 - the day's low. Chicago March wheat also came off its high late, closing steady at $5.05-3/4, while Kansas City March wheat gained on Chicago, up 4-1/2 cents, or 0.9 percent, at $5.35-3/4 after Egypt's GASC bought 290,000 tonnes of US hard red winter wheat in its American-only tender using $100 million of US government-backed credits. "We would not have been in the ballpark" without the credit," said Shawn McCambridge, a Jefferies-Bache grains analyst, adding that the Egyptian wheat purchase "is supportive, but it doesn't re-shape the balance sheet."