Brazilian farmers harvested 99% of the upcoming 2009-10 soy crop as of May 7, local agricultural consultancy Celeres said in a weekly report.
U.S. wheat farmers are expected to produce a smaller crop this year, but they are also forecast to start out the 2010-11 marketing year with large beginning stocks and finish with even larger ending stocks, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Tuesday.
Cash premiums for soybeans and corn shipped to export terminals near New Orleans widened relative to futures as U.S. farmers halted sales to wait for higher prices on optimism that demand will improve.
Corn futures rose, extending yesterday’s advance, after the U.S. government lowered its estimate of the nation’s inventory as demand expands faster than expected. Wheat also rose.
Cocoa rose for the first time in three days on speculation that output will trail demand after exports fell from Cameroon, the fifth-biggest producer of the beans. Coffee gained for a second session.
Corn and soybeans advanced for a third day and are heading for monthly gains on speculation the global economic recovery will bolster demand for food, animal feed and biofuels.
Wheat fell for the third time in four sessions after favorable weather boosted crop prospects in the U.S., the world’s largest shipper of the grain.
Sugar declined to the lowest price since last June on mounting evidence that rising supplies from Brazil will erase a global production deficit.
China will impose an additional duty on U.S. chicken imports of as much as 31.4 percent in response to what it called unfair subsidies for poultry farmers, threatening to deepen a trade rift.
Brazilian farmers harvested 94% of the upcoming 2009-10 soy crop as of April 23, local agricultural consultancy Celeres said in a weekly report.