Malaysian palm oil futures rose to a one monthhigh in light trade on Wednesday with investors are turning their focus to seasonal rains that could trigger floods and curb edible oil supply in Southeast Asia.
In Malaysia, the world's No.2 producer, the weather office has issued warnings of heavy rains in the coming week that may cause floods in major oil palm growing areas that account for 75 percent of national output. Brent crude climbed above $109 per barrel in thin trade as investors clung to hopes U.S. lawmakers would come up with a last-minute deal to avert a looming fiscal crisis in the world's largest oil consumer.
Soybeans Soybean futures posted losses despite the USDA having some large export sales announcements this morning. The USDA reported 108,000 MT of soybeans were sold to an unknown destination and 115,000 MT were sold to China. Export inspections were also positive, with the USDA reporting an 8.3 percent increase over the previous week. 68.5 percent of the 44.486 million bushels of the soybeans were shipped via the Mississippi River. Chinas soybean cancelations from last week are looming over the market still, with traders now concerned that the Longshoreman's strike at grain terminals in the PNW may lead to additional cancelations. The US inspected 4.788 million bushels of soybeans off the Pacific according to the Inspections Report, which makes up 10.7 percent of the total US soybean inspections for the week.