Soybeans Decline in Asia on Speculation Chinese Buying May Slow

May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Soybeans declined for the first time in four days on speculation buying by China, the world’s largest importer, may slow after prices climbed to the highest in nearly eight months.

Futures dropped as much as 0.5 percent in Asian trade after climbing to $11.895 a bushel yesterday, the highest since Sept. 26, on speculation output of the crop in South America and in Heilongjiang province, China’s biggest soybean producer, will decline, potentially boosting demand for U.S. supplies.

“Futures were capped by speculation that a rally in Chicago prices may spur Chinese to slow imports or cancel cargoes they booked previously,” Kazuhiko Saito, chief analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker Fujitomi Co., said in a phone interview today.

Soybeans for July delivery lost 0.2 percent to $11.6625 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade at 1:03 p.m. in Tokyo.

Farmers in Heilongjiang may pare the area sown with soybeans by 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 3.72 million hectares, the China National Grain and Oils Information Center said yesterday.

The total area planted with the oilseed in China, the world’s largest importer, may decline 3.7 percent this year to 9.2 million hectares, the center said on May 8.

U.S. soybean inventories on Aug. 31, before the harvest, will drop to a five-year low of 130 million bushels, or 3.5 million tons, from 205 million a year earlier, the Department of Agriculture said on May 12. Global output this year may fall to 212.8 million tons from a record 221.1 million last year because of smaller crops in South America, the USDA said.

Corn for July delivery fell 0.2 percent to $4.25 a bushel at 12:49 p.m. in Tokyo. Prices were curbed by speculation that sunny weather in coming days may accelerate planting in the U.S. Midwest, Saito said. July-delivery wheat dropped 0.1 percent to $5.9725 a bushel.