Soybeans Rise for a Fourth Day in Chicago on China’s Purchases

Soybeans climbed for a fourth day in Chicago on signs of Chinese demand for U.S. supplies of the oilseed. March-delivery soybeans rose 0.5 percent to $10.675 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade at 12:48 p.m. Paris time. The contract climbed to $10.7475 a bushel yesterday, the highest price since Dec. 1.

U.S. exporters sold 290,000 tons of soybeans to China for delivery in the marketing year that began Sept. 1, the Department of Agriculture said yesterday.

“Again we see buying interest from China in U.S. soy, which continues to support the prices,” French farm adviser Agritel said in a market comment today.

China’s soybean imports in December may be nearly 4.9 million tons, the China National Grain & Oils Information Center said today in an e-mailed statement.

“The Chinese haven’t quit buying U.S. soybeans,” said Ron Uhe, a commodity-risk consultant at Mid-Co Commodities Inc. in Bloomington, Illinois. “Exporters want to acquire more inventories.”

Corn for March delivery rose 0.1 percent to $4.08 a bushel. The price advanced 6.5 percent in the three days ending Dec. 14 on speculation the U.S. crop would be damaged by adverse weather.

March-delivery wheat was little changed at $5.3725 a bushel in Chicago. Milling wheat for January delivery traded on Liffe in Paris slipped 0.4 percent to 129 euros ($187.73) a metric ton.

Bloomberg