Soybeans Jump Most in Seven Weeks on Bets Chinese Consumption to Increase

Soybean prices rose the most in seven weeks on speculation that China, the world’s largest consumer, will buy more U.S. supplies in order to boost production of animal feed and cooking oil.

China will import 55 million metric tons in the marketing year that begins Oct. 1, up from an estimated record 52 million this year, Frank Zhou, the general manager for soybean trading at Cargill Investment (China) Ltd., said today at a conference in Tianjin, China. The country may double its output of industrial feed in 10 years, Liu Xiaoyu, the feed division general manager for Cofco Ltd., said at the conference.

“Chinese feed demand is growing rapidly,” said Alan Brugler, the president of Brugler Marketing & Management LLC in Omaha, Nebraska. “It’s all about expanding economic growth and consumers having more money to increase food purchases.”

Soybean futures for November delivery rose 26 cents, or 2.6 percent, to close at $10.35 a bushel at 1:15 p.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, the biggest gain for a most-active contract since July 15. The price added 0.9 percent this week, the fifth increase in six weeks.

China’s demand for soybean meal is growing faster than soybean oil, as consumers spend more of their income on animal protein than in Japan or the U.S., Cargill’s Zhou said. China will require fewer soybean-oil imports because of growing domestic-processing capacity, Zhou said.

“There is little room for the price to fall,” Zhou said.

Average pork prices in China jumped 9.3 percent in August from the previous month, the National Development and Reform Commission said today on its website.

Egg prices rose 11.8 percent and vegetables advanced 5 percent, the commission said. The changes were based on surveys of 36 major cities across China, the commission said.

The soybean crop in the U.S., the world’s largest grower, was valued at $31.8 billion last year, second only to corn at $48.6 billion, government figures show.

To contact the reporter on this story: Jeff Wilson in Chicago at jwilson29@bloomberg.net

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