Chicago soybean rises on signs of improving demand

Chicago soybean prices jumped Monday, as stronger-than-expected weekly export inspection data indicates cheap price may help revive demand from buyers like China. Corn and wheat continued to struggle. The most active corn contract for December delivery dropped 5 cents, or 0.8 percent, to close at 6.335 U.S. dollars per bushel. December wheat fell 1 cent, or 0.2 percent, to 6.1575 dollars per bushel. January soybean rose 2.75 cents, or 0.2 percent, to close at 11.7825 dollars per bushel. A report released by U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that last week's export inspection for soybean reached 53.5 million bushels, which was well above trade expectations, while China accounted for 35.2 million bushels of the total for the week. A trader said recent sharp decline in U.S. soybean price is quite attractive to buyers from China and other countries, lifting market sentiment. Meanwhile, the grain market was supported by increasing market optimism, after Italy and Greece put in place new governments to shore up the countries' finances, while it was also weighed by the newly-gained strength in U.S. dollar, as a firmer dollar makes U.S. grain exports more expensive on world markets. As for corn market, corn price continued to struggle on Monday, amid speculations that U.S. feed producers on the east coast may be importing feed wheat as an alternative for corn, even the strength in soybean complex failed to lift up the corn trade. Wheat continued to drop as the government report showed that last week's export inspection for wheat only totaled 10.35 million bushels, well below trade expectation.