Soybeans Rebound as U.S. Exports Jump to Most Since 2010

(Corrects second paragraph to show export sales were highest since October 2010.)

Soybean futures rose to a four-week high after the U.S. reported the biggest jump in export sales in more than two years.

Sales in the week ended Jan. 10 jumped to 1.61 million metric tons, the most since October 2010 and up from 321,800 a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said today. The purchases included 845,600 by China. Prices had tumbled to a six-month low on Jan. 11, as China canceled earlier export-sale agreements.

“China is back buying U.S. soybeans after the drop in prices,” Jim Gerlach, the president of A/C Trading Co. in Fowler, Indiana, said in a telephone interview. “Not only are Chinese crushers coming for U.S. soybeans, but the jump in soybean-meal exports will keep U.S. crusher demand for soybeans elevated. U.S. supplies are getting extremely tight.”

Soybean futures for March delivery rose 0.3 percent to $14.4025 a bushel at 8:22 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, after reaching $14.48, the highest for a most-active contract since Dec. 19. Before the export report, prices dropped 0.7 percent.

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

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net