Soybeans near 6-week low on harvest pressure

Tue Sep 25, 2012 6:25am IST

SYDNEY, Sept 25 (Reuters) - U.S. soybeans on Tuesday fell for a second day, hit by a record pace in the U.S. harvest and a
strong dollar, with the oilseed near a six-week low after dropping below $16 a bushel for the first time since mid-August
in the prior session.
         
    FUNDAMENTALS 

    * Chicago Board Of Trade November soybeans eased 0.17 percent to $16.07-1/4 a bushel, having closed down 0.59 percent on Monday after hitting a low of $15.90-1/4. 
    * December corn dipped 0.37 percent to $7.42 a bushel after falling 0.47 percent in the previous session.
    * December wheat fell 0.56 percent to $8.87 a bushel, having closed down 0.65 percent on Monday. 
    * U.S. farmers maintained their record pace of harvesting corn and soybeans during the past week but farmers were not running their combines flat out due to some rainy weather.
    * The U.S. Agriculture Department said on Monday that the corn harvest was 39 percent complete as of Sept. 23, up from 26 percent a week earlier. The soybean harvest rose to 22 percent complete from 10 percent. 
    * Analysts had been expecting the corn harvest to be 41 percent finished and the soybean harvest 20 percent, according to the average of estimates in a Reuters survey of 14 crop watchers.
    * Market expects a big surge in plantings in Brazil and Argentina, the world's second- and third-largest exporters after the United States, traders said. 
    * Soybeans weighed down by talk of greater palm oil supply, which could substitute for soy oil. 
    * Palm oil prices will fall further this year as slowing economic growth dents demand for biofuel production, leading to higher stocks at top producers Indonesia and Malaysia, industry executives meeting in India at the weekend said. 
    * The fall in soybeans comes despite the U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast ending stocks to be the smallest in nine years next summer and the stocks-to-use ratio, a measure of demand, seen the tightest in five decades.
    * However, more analysts expect the USDA to raise its estimate of the soybean yield in its next crop update on Oct.11, based on stories of better-than-expected output so far in the harvest.
             
    MARKET NEWS  

   * The euro fell to its lowest in more than a week against the dollar and yen on Monday as a weak German business sentiment report and uncertainty about debt-plagued Spain added to concerns about the euro zone's slumping economy.  
    * Oil prices fell more than 1 percent on Monday, dragged by disappointing German economic data that reinforced concerns about the global economy and the outlook for fuel demand. 
    * U.S. stocks edged lower on Monday as a disappointing forecast from Caterpillar and weak German data increased concerns that global growth may remain sluggish.  

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/09/25/markets-grains-idINL4E8KP01E20120925    
(Reporting by Colin Packham; Editing by Ed Davies)