Soy climbs on South American weather

CHICAGO, Jan 3 (Reuters) – Chicago soybean futures ended higher on Monday, supported by risks of hot and dry weather for South American crops as they near harvest.

Wheat fell, pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar, pulling corn lower.

The most active soybeans contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) ended 16-1/4 cents higher at $13.55-1/2 a bushel.

CBOT wheat lost 12-3/4 cents, ending at $7.58 a bushel, and CBOT corn eased 4 cents to $5.89-1/4 a bushel.

South American weather forecasts returned to dry and hot after beneficial rains last week aided soybean production in Brazil and Argentina.

In Argentina, moisture deficits could expand to affect more than half of corn and soybean crops by next week, the Commodity Weather Group said in a note, although the impact on yield remains uncertain.

“Even with weather issues in South America, you’ve got a bigger crop than a year ago,” said Bill Lapp, an agriculture economist at Advanced Economic Solutions.

Gains in soybean futures were capped by the disappointing U.S. weekly export inspections, with 1.19 million tonnes of the oilseed exported the week ended Dec. 30, down 32% from the previous four week average and below analyst estimates.

“Soybean inspections were the lowest since late September,” said Terry Reilly, a senior analyst at Futures International. “Some people were a little disappointed with that.”

The wheat market eased, weighed by a stronger U.S. currency that weakens American wheat exports, while traders weighed bumper harvests arriving in Argentina and Australia against export restrictions in top supplier Russia.

U.S exporters shipped 596,092 tonnes of corn last week, down 45% from the prior four-week average and at the low end of analyst expectations, while 141,816 tonnes of wheat was inspected for export, below expectations and 70% below the previous four-week average.

Reporting by Christopher Walljasper; Editing by Amy Caren Daniel and Grant McCool

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