United States soybeans climbed to six-year highs this week as weather and export troubles in Argentina outweighed concerns of a new coronavirus strain hitting Britain. Corn and wheat futures traded near even as soybeans supported the grains complex.
Argentine grains inspectors and oilseeds workers started a new wage strike on Wednesday, organizers said in a joint statement, as stalling contract negotiations threatened to interrupt exports from one of the world's main bread baskets.
Brazil soybean imports during November reached 122,000 tons, 20 times more than in November 2019 (6,000 tons). Purchases cost US$ 49.2 million, compared to the US$ 1.9 million spent a year earlier, as the average value of the ton purchased increased from US $328.8 to US$ 402.4, according to the Brazilian Foreign Trade Secretariat, SECEX.
U.S. soybean futures rose for a sixth consecutive session on Friday and hit a four-year high on dry conditions in key South American crop areas and concerns about dwindling U.S. supplies. Corn also gained on strong exports and worries about South American dryness, while wheat ended mixed.
A U.S. grain export terminal near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, is loading about 38,000 tons of U.S. soybeans on a bulk cargo vessel for shipment to Brazil, according to Southport Agencies shipping lineup.
Bloomberg has reported that the United States began selling soybeans to Brazil after the Chamber of Foreign Trade (CAMEX) temporarily suspended import tariffs for corn and soybeans. This is a rare event that can be explained because Brazil has taken the lead in the production and export of the oilseed.
With stockpiles of oilseed at their lowest in decades, Brazil's Bunge SA is processing soybeans from Paraguay, and now also from Uruguay, which also plants over a million hectares of the oilseed.
Brazil's agribusiness exports during August 2020, reached US$ 8.91 billion, an increase of 7.8% in relation to the same month in 2019 (US$ 8.26 billion). Between August 2019 and 2020, agribusiness product exports grew by 16.5% in absolute values.
According to the Agricensus Agency, a load of Brazilian soy exported to northern China was detained on July 25 because ten crew members aboard a ship from Rio Grande do Sul have tested positive for Covid-19.
Brazilian soybeans imports to China during the month of March dropped 24.8%, over the same month last year. The data was released by the Chinese General Customs Administration last Sunday, April 26, and shows soy imports from Brazil reached 2.1 million tons in March, compared to 2.79 million tons in the same period last year.