Soybeans Surge Most in Nine Months, Corn Gains on U.S. Exports

Nice day for corn and soybeans.

July 30 (Bloomberg) -- Soybeans surged the most nine months

and corn gained after a government report signaled strong demand
for cheap supplies from the U.S., the world’s largest producer
and exporter of both crops.
U.S. exporters sold 1.92 million metric tons of soybeans to
China, with 1.8 million set for delivery in the marketing year
that begins Sept. 1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said
today in a statement. In a separate report, the USDA said export
sales of soybeans jumped 36 percent in the week ended July 23 to
954,543 metric tons. Corn sales in the past four weeks are up 55
percent from a year earlier, the USDA said.
“The export sales were strong for both corn and soybeans,
but Chinese business means soybeans will lead,” said Doug
Bergman, a grain broker for Advantage Traders Group in Chicago.
“Soybean export sales will severely tighten U.S. supplies,”
which the USDA estimates will fall to a 32-year low on Aug. 31,
Bergman said.

Cotton Climbs as U.S. Exports May Increase; Orange Juice Gains

From bloomberg.

The U.S., the biggest fiber exporter, may ship 10.5 million bales overseas next year with the global economy “in a recovery mode,” said Joe Nicosia, the chief executive officer of Cordova, Tennessee-based merchant Allenberg Cotton Co. Exports may reach 13 million bales “if demand takes off and we have a good recovery,” he said earlier this week.

Cotton futures for December delivery rose 0.99 cent, or 1.7 percent, to 60.11 cents a pound on ICE Futures U.S. in New York, the biggest gain for a most-active contract since July 10.

“We’re getting good inquiries from China, and we’re going to do business in China,” Jarral Neeper, the president of Bakersfield, California-based cotton cooperative Calcot Ltd., said on July 28. He estimates China will import 12 million bales in the new marketing year and U.S. exports may reach 11 million bales.

Price Prediction

Cotton prices may touch 72 cents in the next few months, mainly because of consumption gains in China, Neeper said. Calcot represents about 1,400 cotton growers in the western U.S., including California, Arizona and New Mexico.

The fertilizer depression is over

Potash (Pot) up 9% on thursday on bullish comments from their CEO. Bloomberg article here.

“The fertilizer depression is over,” Potash Corp. Chief Executive Officer Bill Doyle said on a conference call.

These guys are basically looking forward and seeing firmer prices and increased demand,” James O’Leary, who helps manage about $3 billion including Potash Corp. shares, for Reno, Nevada-based Navellier & Associates, said today in a telephone interview from New York. “The market’s responding to that.”

Doyle confirmed today that Canpotex Ltd., the export arm of North America’s biggest potash producers, agreed to sell supplies of the commodity to India for $460 a ton, less than producers expected.

“This contract breaks the impasse and opens the door to a return of demand around the world,” Doyle said today on a conference call with investors and analysts. “Buyers now have the clarity they need to resume purchasing.”

Corn Rises Most in Six Months on Acreage Bets, Soybeans Gain

Up 6%. Most in six months. Decent day for soybeans too.

Farmers clearly planted less corn and soybeans because of the wet, cold weather in May and June,” said Tim Hannagan, an Alaron Trading Corp. senior grain analyst in Chicago. “The market is assuming farmers didn’t finish planting all the acres they planned.”

Corn futures for December delivery rose 19.5 cents, or 6.1 percent, to $3.3875 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade, the biggest gain for a most-active contract since Jan. 16. Yesterday, the price touched $3.1475, the lowest since Dec. 8.

Soybean futures for November delivery rose 24 cents, or 2.6 percent, to $9.32 a bushel. On July 8, the most-active contract reached $8.8125, the lowest in more than three months.

Reaping reward from farmland

Video from the fortune article:

Betting the Farm

Nice Fortune article on growing investor interest in farmland.

Warner is just one of many financiers around the world making that same bet. Over the past few years hedge fund gurus like George Soros, investment powerhouses like BlackRock, and retirement plan giants like TIAA-CREF have begun to plow money into farmland - everywhere from the Midwest to Ukraine to Brazil. Canadian private equity firm AgCapita, which raised $18 million in 2008 to invest in Saskatchewan cropland, estimates that as of the first quarter of 2009, more than $2 billion of private equity money had been raised for farmland investments globally, and another $500 million was planned.

Marc Faber on Farmland

Brief mention here.

He also recommended investments related to commodities, such as farmland, or the tourism industry.