US soyabean futures fell 2 percent on Monday and appear headed for their biggest daily slide in almost a month due to long liquidation prompted by crop-friendly weather forecasts for top producer Brazil and by concerns of Hurricane Sandy's impact on the US financial sector.
The sell-off in soyabeans pulled down wheat and corn, although both grains were underpinned by worrisome weather for wheat in the southern US Plains, Australia and elsewhere. Soyabeans had the most severe moves at the Chicago Board of Trade, falling more than 30 cents per bushel and down for a third straight session as forecasts called for improved soyabean planting weather in Brazil. The global grain trade is counting on Brazil and Argentina to produce a bumper soya crop in early 2013 after drought clipped the 2012 US harvest as well as the previous South American crop.
The Brazilian government has forecast that the country will produce 80 million to 82.8 million tonnes of soyabeans for the 2012/13 season, surpassing US production of 77.8 million. The US Department of Agriculture has projected Brazil's crop at 81 million tonnes.
At the CBOT as of 12:10 pm CDT (1710 GMT), most-active January soyabeans were down 32-1/4 cents, or 2.1 percent, at $15.29 per bushel. December wheat was down 3-1/4 cents at $8.60-1/2 a bushel while December corn was up 1/2 cent at $7.38-1/4 a bushel. Hurricane Sandy, barrelling toward the US East Coast, also appeared to pressure the markets. The storm, which could become the largest ever to hit the United States, shut trading on Wall Street and closed US government offices.