Soybean Prices Heading North, Says Expert

By Dalila Abu Bakar KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 27 (Bernama) -- Soybean priceas are on the uptrend due to low supply, says Ontario-based soybean exporter St. Clair Agri Services. Its grain merchandiser, Brady Elliott, said supply was reduced as output was affected by the dry weather in South America. “Currently, the price is on the uptrend, it’s quite high historically speaking, due to a number of things. Right now, we have drought in Argentina and Brazil, which are very large suppliers of soybean. So, supply is down a bit,” Elliott told Bernama here Monday. “The perceived reduction in supply is mainly due to the drought in South America, and due to the drought, there would be a cut in production estimates for those countries,” he said. He said prices of commodities traded on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) are on the uptrend and there has been a large demand for soybean, specifically from China. “So, supply and demand is causing prices to go up. The uptrend is also due to speculation, which has caused volatility in the market,” he said, adding the price of soybean on the CBOT is currently around US$12.90 per bushel. Elliot said the market might see a correction where prices of the commodity would fall slightly. He said the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) had projected that the average price of soybean would be around US$10.95 per bushel next year. “As for now, it’s on the uptrend. We are still seeing high prices right now. There may be a correction where the price will come down a little bit,” he said. -- BERNAMA