China needs beans
China's soybean imports are set to double compared to a year ago.
I wish I could tell you more, but true to form for a lot of Bloomberg's market wrap-up stories, this fascinating nugget is pretty much just hanging out there, buried amid the minutiae of the day's market moves, with little further explanation. So I'll extract the relevant paragraphs and string them together for your convenience:
Chicago soybean and soybean oil
futures rose to records on speculation China may increase imports
to curb food inflation.China's soybean imports, the world's biggest, may more than
double this month to about 2.5 million metric tons compared with
the same period last year, the state-owned China National Grain
and Oils Information Center said in an e-mailed report today.China's inflation last month accelerated to the quickest
pace in more than 11 years after the worst snowstorms in decades
disrupted food supplies. Consumer prices rose 7.1 percent from a
year earlier, the statistics bureau said Feb. 19, after gaining
6.5 percent in December.
That's all, folks. A Google News search for more comes up more or less dry.
Is the bean market looking toppy? Or is the more room on the upside? Kevin Kerr noted the following in yesterday's 5 Min. Forecast: "One bad weather scenario and suddenly we have a whole different pricing matrix.
If we get a drought here like they suffered in Australia last year and it
impacts soybeans during the critical pod stage, or if it were to roast 50% of
the corn prior to harvest, imagine where that would (will) send prices."
It was less than six weeks ago when subscribers to Kevin's Resource Trader Alert had the chance to book a gain of 103% on soybean oil calls, and he's keeping his eye out for the next big move in beans (and corn).
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