Soybean futures advance on speculation supplies to tighten

Soybean futures were up for a second day on Thursday, boosted by speculation U.S. farmers would switch to planting more profitable corn and cotton.
On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, soybean futures for May delivery traded at USD13.8150 a bushel during European afternoon trade, climbing 0.41%.
It earlier rose to a daily high of USD13.8325 a bushel.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said last week that areas planted with soybeans in the U.S. fell by 1% from a year earlier to 76.6 million acres in March, exceeding expectations for a drop to 76.9 million acres.
According to the report, U.S. farmers yielded 43.1 bushels of soybeans per acre, while corn crops yielded 46.4 bushels per acre and cotton yielded 44.8 bushels per acre. 
Meanwhile, markets were looking forward to the USDA’s closely-watched monthly grain supplies report on Friday.  
The data was expected to show that U.S. soybean supplies dropped to 136 million bushels, down 2.9% from a previous estimate of 140 million bushels, as dry weather in key soybean-growing states in the U.S. damaged crops. 
The U.S. is the world’s largest soybean producer and exporter.
Chinese demand for U.S. supplies was forecast to increase as crop conditions in Brazil and Argentina, the world’s second and third largest soybean exporters deteriorated in March.
China is the world’s largest soybean consumer and is expected to account for nearly 60% of global trade of the grain in 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Elsewhere, corn for May delivery gained 1.08% to trade at USD7.7088 a bushel, while wheat for May delivery added 0.9% to trade at USD7.8812 a bushel during European afternoon trade.

(Source: http://www.futurespros.com/news/grains-news/soybean-futures-advance-on-speculation-supplies-to-tighten-1000009865)