GRAINS-Soy nears seven-year peak amid harvest concerns in South America

Par Julie Ingwersen

CHICAGO, United States, March 8 (.) – Soybean futures in the United States hit their highest level in nearly seven years on Monday as dry weather in Argentina and excessive rains in Brazil fueled supply issues, analysts said.

* Wheat futures fell, under pressure from forecasts of beneficial rains in the US plains winter wheat belt later this week. Corn futures were mixed in a choppy session.

* The strengthening of the US dollar has continued in the markets, which theoretically makes US grains less competitive in the world.

* At 6:39 p.m. GMT, Chicago soybeans for May rose 7.5 cents to $ 14,375 a bushel, slashing profits after hitting $ 14.60, the highest price on a continuous contract chart of most active soybean since June 2014.

* Highs reached the entire board of Chicago soybean and soybean oil futures.

* May wheat fell 5.74 cents to $ 6.4725 a bushel. May corn rose 1/2 a cent to $ 5.46 a bushel, but futures for the following months hit contract highs, including December’s new crop, which is the corn to be planted this spring. .

* Soybean futures set the tone, rising early due to weather issues in South America.

* “Brazil’s soybean crop is affected and somewhat depressed by the wet weather,” said Tobin Gorey of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. “Argentina’s hot and dry climate outlook threatens soybean crops.”

* Brazilian farmers harvested 35% of the area planted to soybeans last Thursday, up from 49% a year ago and the slowest pace in a decade, agro-industrial consultancy firm AgRural said.

* The quality of soybeans is also affected by humidity conditions.

* Soybean futures could reach a range of $ 15,535 to $ 15,635, the analyst said. Wang Tao.

* Traders were adjusting their positions ahead of the release of a monthly supply and demand report on Tuesday to the United States Department of Agriculture, also awaiting major USDA quarterly reports on inventories and intentions planting on March 31.

* Analysts expect the USDA to lower its estimates for 2020/21 soybean and corn ending stocks on Tuesday. (Additional report by Naveen Thukral in Singapore edited in Spanish by Javier López de Lérida)

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