US soyabean futures fell nearly 3 percent on Thursday as a plunge in the value of Brazil's currency threatened US soya exports and encouraged Brazilian farmers to step up sales from their record-large harvest, analysts said. Corn and wheat followed soyabeans lower.
As of 11:34 am CDT (1634 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade July soyabean futures were down 27-3/4 cents at $9.48 per bushel after dipping to $9.46, the contract's lowest since April 11. CBOT July corn was down 5-3/4 cents at $3.65-3/4 a bushel, and July wheat fell 1-1/2 cents at $4.25-1/2 a bushel. Soyabeans sank as the Brazilian real tumbled more than 7 percent following corruption allegations against Brazilian President Michel Temer.
Soyabeans are priced in dollars, and because Brazilian farmers are paid in the domestic currency, a weaker real means farmers earn more money for their crop. Brazil just completed the harvest of its largest-ever soya harvest, estimated by the US Department of Agriculture at 111.6 million tonnes. But farmers had sold only about half of it by early May, compared with the five-year average of 65 percent. The currency move also makes Brazilian soya more attractive on the world market, inhibiting export demand for US supplies.
Tempering wheat futures' fall was support from larger-than-expected weekly US export sales and news from Wednesday that Egypt's state grain buyer purchased two cargoes of US wheat at its latest tender. The USDA reported export sales of US wheat in the latest reporting week at 640,600 tonnes (old and new marketing years combined), topping a range of trade expectations.
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