Soybeans, corn and wheat fluctuated in Chicago as investors weighed rains in South America against rising demand for raw materials used to make food and biofuels. As much as 3 inches of rain fell in parts of Brazil and Argentina, the biggest soybean exporters behind the U.S., in the past three days and about 2.5 inches more may fall this week, Commodity Weather Group LLC said in a report. Soybean imports into China may rise 38 percent in the current quarter, state- owned Chinese researcher grain.gov.cn said Nov. 26. “It’s difficult to pick a fundamental direction in prices for the rest of the year,” said Alexander Bos, an analyst at Macquarie Bank Ltd. in London. “China’s buying a lot of soybeans still, we’re seeing some big wheat sales going on, there are a few buyers in for corn. Low prices are fueling end- user buying. A lot of end-users need to buy starting in January.” Soybeans for January delivery gained 3 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $12.38 a bushel at 10:51 a.m. London time on the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices rose as much as 0.8 percent and slid as much as 0.6 percent. The oilseed has jumped 12 percent since the end of September on rising Chinese demand and is little changed this month after four monthly gains in a row. Corn for March delivery fell 1.5 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $5.5175 a bushel. The grain added as much as 0.5 percent and slid as much as 0.6 percent. It has gained 33 percent this year, partly because dry weather in August curbed U.S. production. Prices have declined 5.2 percent this month after five gains in a row. Crop Forecasts Forecasts for corn crops in the U.S. and China may fall further because “weather was not favorable” during growing periods, Societe Generale SA said in a report. China became a net corn importer in 2009 for the first time in 14 years as drought damaged crops. Wheat for March delivery was unchanged at $6.905 a bushel after gaining as much as 0.8 percent and slipping as much as 0.7 percent. The grain has advanced 4.4 percent since the end of July as the worst Russian drought in a half-century curbed production and caused the country’s government to ban exports. Wheat has slid 3.7 percent in November. Milling wheat for January delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris gained 0.3 percent to 223 euros ($290.64) a metric ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Tony C. Dreibus in London at tdreibus@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.

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