Johannesburg - South African soybean futures rose the most in more than two weeks following gains in Chicago yesterday after the US Department of Agriculture cut the domestic crop forecast by 3.3 percent.
Soybeans for December delivery, the most active contract, jumped 2.3 percent to 5,771 rand ($580) a metric ton, the most since Aug. 27, by the close on the South African Futures Exchange.
Farmers in the US, the world’s top producer, will harvest 3.149 billion bushels of soybeans this year, down from 3.255 billion estimated in August, the USDA said yesterday, cutting its forecast for the second time in as many months.
Parts of Iowa and Illinois, the biggest growing states, had as little as 5 percent of the normal amount of rain in the last 30 days, National Weather Service data show.
Soybeans for delivery in November rose 0.1 percent to $13.9525 a bushel by 8:30 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade.
The price jumped 2.8 percent yesterday to close at $13.96 a bushel, the biggest gain for a most-active contract since August 26.
“The USDA report which came out yesterday showed that soya is a bit under pressure,” Kobus Theron, a trader at North West- based Suidwes Landbou (Pty) Ltd., said by phone.
White corn for delivery in December, gained 0.1 percent to 2,344 rand a ton, while the yellow variety declined 0.3 percent to 2,170 rand a ton.
South Africa, which is the continent’s largest corn grower, uses yellow corn mainly as animal feed, while meal made from the white variety is one of the nation’s staple foods. - Bloomberg News