News

Prices of soybean fell in the key wholesale markets of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, due to arrival of fresh crop in the market. In 15-20 days, supplies in full swing and daily arrivals in Indore are seen at 10,000-15,000 bags. The most active October contract was down 0.4% from the previous close.

Soybean futures contracts rose over 1% on the CBOT on concerns of damage to the US soybean crop due to hurricane Harvey. After Harvey, investors are tracking developments on hurricane Irma which is expected to reach the Gulf of Mexico in a few days. Prices rose also on expectations of a fall in the country’s soybean yield due to dry weather over the US Midwest which is the key soybean-growing region. The most active November contract of soybean on the CBOT was at $9.7625 per bushel, up 0.5% from the previous close.

Futures contracts of edible oils traded mixed, with soybean and mustard falling and refined soyoil and crude palm oil rising on domestic exchanges. Soybean closed marginally lower on the National Commodity and Derivatives Exchange due to arrival of fresh crop in the key markets of Madhya Pradesh, the largest grower.

China, the world top soybean buyer, imported 8.45 million tonnes of the oilseed in August. A record for the month of August, as improving margins boosted demand from buyers. The August figures were up 10.2 percent from last year’s 7.67 million tonnes, but down 16.2 percent from 10.08 tonnes in July.

US officials cautioned over expectations of a substantial rise in Chinese soybean imports, citing the high stocks of the oilseed already bought, amid market questions over a slow pace of US export orders. The US Department of Agriculture Beijing bureau pegged at 92.5m tonnes soybean imports by China, the world top buyer, in 2017-18 on an October-to-September basis. While a rise of 1.5m tonnes year on year, and representing a record high, the forecast is well below the USDA official forecast of 94.0m tonnes.