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Soybeans rose to a three-month high on signs that demand is increasing in China, the world’s biggest importer. Export sales by the U.S., the world’s largest grower and shipper, rose 6.1 percent to 1.35 million metric tons in the week ended Nov. 12, including more than 724,700 tons to China, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. Sales in the first two weeks of November were twice the October weekly average.

Ukraine harvested 47.09 million metric tons of grain to Nov. 19 on 15.22 million hectares, or just over 98% of the total area to be harvested, with an average yield of 3.09 tons a hectare, the agriculture ministry said Friday.

“By and large, the situation concerning fuel supply for agrarians has been at least as good in 2009 as it was in 2008”, commented Yevgeniy Orel, Deputy Director General, Ukrainian Agrarian Confederation (UAC). It has been possible to avoid critical disruptions with the fuel supply. In the current year, according to the estimates of Ministry for Agrarian Policy, the estimated technological demand (ETD) for diesel fuel in the agrarian sector amounted to 1.5 million MT, gasoline 0.41 million MT. Of these amounts, the autumn field works required 530,000 and 139,000 MT respectively.

U.S. producers are expected to reduce plantings of the variety of wheat used to make pastries and snack foods by 18% to 20% from last year due to weather delays and weak cash prices. Last year, producers planted about 8.3 million acres of the variety, soft red winter wheat, which is grown in the central third of the country. Total winter wheat seedings last year were about 43.3 million acres. This year, wet weather that has slowed the U.S. corn and soy harvests has delayed SRW wheat planting. Many producers seed SRW wheat after soybeans in the Midwest and South but could not plant wheat until the soybeans were harvested and the ground dried up.