Soybeans Slump as Risk of Frost Damage to U.S. Crops Recedes

Sept. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Soybeans declined for the fourth time in five days on speculation that freezing weather in the Midwest will cause little damage to the crop in the U.S., the biggest exporter.

Cold air from Canada will move into the U.S. next week, with freezing temperatures likely to stay north of the biggest growing areas, said Mike Tannura, the president of T-Storm Weather in Chicago. About 40 percent of the crop was beginning to drop leaves as of Sept. 20, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That’s a sign the plants are mature and ready for harvest.

“The risk of early frost keeps falling,” Tommy Xiao, analyst at Shanghai JC Intelligence Co., said by phone from Shanghai. “The trend toward a bumper crop is inevitable.”

November-delivery soybeans dropped as much as 9.5 cents, or 1 percent, $9.11 a bushel in after-hours electronic trading on the Chicago Board of Trade. The contract was at $9.165 at 9:15 a.m. Beijing time.

Soybean production will jump to a record 3.245 billion bushels, up 9.7 percent from last year, the USDA said in a Sept. 11 report. Yields will rise to 42.3 bushels an acre from 39.6 bushels last year, the department said.

Corn for December delivery fell as much as 5 cents, or 1.5 percent, to $3.2525 a bushel before trading at $3.2675.

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