Soybeans rise to near six-week top on Brazilian supply concerns

Chicago soybeans climbed to their highest levels in almost six weeks on Wednesday, with prices underpinned by concerns over shipments from Brazil, the world’s top exporter.

Wheat fell for the first time in three sessions, although worries over Ukrainian exports limited losses, while corn ticked lower.

“Roadblocks in Brazil and strength in the energy market helped support the market,” Hightower said in a report. “The main access to Brazil’s second-largest port is still blocked.”

Wheat Wv1 gave up 0.2% to $9.01 a bushel and corn Cv1 fell 0.1% to $6.97 a bushel.

Demonstrators protesting Brazil’s election results have disrupted fuel distribution and meat production, as well as the country’s ability to send grains and oilseeds to port, companies and authorities said on Tuesday.

Blockades were first reported on Sunday amid spreading demonstrations by truckers and other supporters of outgoing Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, challenging his narrow election loss to leftist Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

Soybean production prospects remain strong in Brazil. StoneX commodity brokerage raised its forecast of the country’s 2022/23 soybean crop to 154.35 million tonnes, from 153.8 million previously.

The U.S. soybean harvest is winding down with 88% of the crop cut, as of Oct. 30, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said. The corn harvest was 76% complete.

In the wheat market, focus is on Black Sea export corridor after Russia’s withdrawal over the weekend.

A long-term defence is needed for Ukraine’s grain export corridor and the world must respond firmly to any Russian attempts to disrupt it, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, as more ships were loading despite Moscow suspending its participation in a U.N.-brokered deal.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call on Tuesday that Moscow could consider resuming a deal allowing grain exports from Ukrainian seaports only after completion of an investigation of drone attacks on the Crimean naval port of Sevastopol.

In the United States, dry conditions have hampered the newly seeded U.S. 2023 winter wheat crop. The USDA on Monday rated 28% of the crop in good-to-excellent condition, the lowest for this time of year in records dating to 1987.

Commodity funds were net buyers of CBOT soybean, wheat, corn and soyoil futures contracts on Tuesday and net sellers of soymeal, traders said. COMFUND/CBT
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Naveen Thukral; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)