Reuters Daily Agriculture Brief 130409

Financial Crisis - 0745 GMT

- - China economy in a better shape than expected with March industrial output growth exceeding forecasts, premier says
- Japanese wholesale prices fall at fastest rate since 2002 in March
- China planning new economic stimulus package aimed at boosting consumption, state-run paper says
- Bank of Japan will consider boosting capital to guard against possible losses from commercial paper, corporate bonds
- U.S. Treasury tells General Motors to prepare for bankruptcy filing by June 1, New York Times reports

GRAINS:

Soybeans rally on lower stocks; corn, wheat fall
SINGAPORE, April 13 (Reuters) - Chicago soybean futures rose about 1 percent on Monday, extending last week's rally, which lifted the market to a 2-½ month high, as a report predicted lower closing stocks in the United States on strong global demand.
"The soy market is really strong, it's a good buying opportunity," said Kaname Gokon, a manager with broker Okato Shoji Co. in Tokyo. "We have a price forecast of $10.50 a bushel by the end of this week for the May contract."

Russian grain export prices edge up, domestic slide
MOSCOW, April 13 (Reuters) - Russian grain export prices strengthened slightly last week on rising export demand, while domestic prices continued to decline gradually as stocks remained high, analysts said on Monday.
"Last week saw a certain revival of exporters' activity in the southern part of Russia and certain traders raised prices," SovEcon agricultural analysts said.

Iraq port unloading 88,000 t long grain rice
AMMAN, April 13 (Reuters) - Iraq's Umm Qasr port is taking delivery of 88,000 tonnes of long grain Vietnamese, Uruguay and Thai rice that were purchased late last year, shipping sources said on Monday.
They said the port began on Saturday unloading a vessel carrying 26,000 tonnes of Vietnamese rice in addition to two vessels that were already discharging since the start of the month a total of 62,000 tonnes of Thai and Uruguay origin rice.

Vietnam rice crop output jumps 10.8 pct -paper
HANOI, April 13 (Reuters) - The winter-spring paddy rice output in Vietnam's Mekong Delta is expected to rise 10.8 percent from last year to 10.4 million tonnes, thanks to higher yields, beating previous expectations, a state-run newspaper said.
The average yield rose nearly 5 percent to 6.5 tonnes per hectare that produces Vietnam's top quality grain, Monday's Tin Tuc (News) daily quoted Le Van Banh, director of the Cuu Long Delta Rice Institute, as saying.

US wheat made up 15 pct of Iran 08/09 wheat import- report
TEHRAN, April 12 (Reuters) - Iran imported 5.9 million tonnes of wheat in the 2008-09 year, of which about 15 percent came from its old foe the United States, an Iranian business daily reported on Sunday, citing customs data.
Iran stopped buying U.S. wheat after the Iranian revolution in 1979 which ousted the pro-U.S. government. But one official said in November Iran was importing wheat from the United States via intermediaries. His comments were the first official admission that such an indirect trade was taking place.

EDIBLE OIL/OILSEEDS:

Palm ends up 1.6 pct but comes off 7-month high
JAKARTA, April 13 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm futures rose 1.6 percent on Monday on signs of tighter stocks, but were off intraday peaks after touching a fresh 7-month high as investors locked in profits from a recent rally, traders said.
"People think the market is massively overbought. The rally is fundamentally justified on the tightness of stock in the market for vegetable oils. But the way the market moved is too fast," said a trader at a Kuala Lumpur-based brokerage.

Sinograin says Marubeni deal adds soy import channel
BEIJING, April 13 (Reuters) - A cooperation deal between China Sinograin Oils Corp and Japan's Marubeni Corp will give China another channel for imports of soybeans, the head of the Chinese firm told Reuters on Monday.
But the deal does not cover other grains, such as wheat and corn, and Sinograin has not committed to buying any volume from the Japanese trading house.

China soyoil weaker, soy imports to slow down-survey
BEIJING, April 10 (Reuters) - China's demand for imported soybeans slowed this week following a surge in international prices while the soyoil market became weak on ample supply, an official survey showed on Friday.
Traders expected domestic soyoil demand to fall in coming weeks following huge arrivals of soybeans and more supplies from crushers, the China National Grain and Oils Information Centre (CNGOIC) said.

FINANCIAL MARKETS:

Asia stocks up, oil slides on demand outlook
TOKYO, April 13 (Reuters) - Asian stocks rose on Monday on hopes for the global economy, with Taiwan shares hitting a near 7-month closing high, while oil prices slipped below $52 after a dramatic oil demand downgrade by the International Energy Agency.
"The world is watching this, and with stock markets likely to move strongly in response, nobody wants to either buy or sell actively today," said Masayoshi Okamoto, head of dealing at Jujiya Securities in Tokyo.