SINGAPORE- Chicago soybean futures edged higher on Tuesday, with short-covering supporting prices, although expectations of bumper production in South America curbed gains.
Corn prices rose on support from lower Brazilian crop outlook, and wheat firmed as well.
The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) was up 0.2 percent at $12.26-1/4 a bushel, having gained almost 1 percent on Monday.
Wheat rose 0.2 percent to $5.97-1/2 a bushel and corn edged 0.1 percent higher to $4.46 a bushel.
“Soybean prices are firming after hitting lows last week,” said one Singapore-based oilseed trader. “There is some buying interest at these levels from investors.”
Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT soybean, soyoil, wheat and corn futures contracts on Monday and net sellers of soymeal futures, traders said.
On Monday, gains in US crude oil futures lent support to the soybean complex due to soyoil’s role as a feedstock for biofuel.
Soybeans’ rally is being capped, however, by forecasts of record supplies from South America’s top producers, including Brazil and Argentina.
Brazil’s 2023/24 soybean harvest had reached 6 percent of the planted area, as of last Thursday, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, up 3.7 percentage points from the previous week and above the 1.8 percent seen in the year-ago period.
