Soybeans Decline on Advancing Brazilian Harvest; Grains Increase

March 12 (Bloomberg) -- Soybeans fell the most in more than two weeks as the harvest accelerates in Brazil, where a record crop is expected. Corn and wheat rose.

Brazilian farmers collected about 48 percent of the harvest as of March 8, up from 46 percent a year earlier, and sold 58 percent of the crop, researcher Safras & Mercado said in a report yesterday. Brazil, expected to overtake the U.S. as the world’s biggest exporter, may produce a record 83.5 million metric tons of soybeans, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said March 8.

“Harvest is moving along quickly in Brazil, and soybeans are reaching ports and getting loaded on ships, slowing demand for U.S. supplies,” Greg Grow, the director of agribusiness for Archer Financial Services Inc. in Chicago, said in a telephone interview.

Soybean futures for delivery in May dropped 0.7 percent to close at $14.6875 a bushel at 2 p.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, the biggest decline since February 22.

The May contract’s premium to November futures fell 5.4 percent to $1.9825 after yesterday reaching the highest since September as farmers increased sales of last year’s crop, Grow said. May soybean-meal futures fell 0.4 percent to $436.20 for 2,000 pounds of the animal feed.

Corn futures for May delivery rose 0.4 percent to $7.1425 a bushel in Chicago, climbing for the fifth time in six sessions.

Wheat futures for May delivery added 0.5 percent to $7.035 a bushel on the CBOT.

--With assistance from Fabiola Moura in Sao Paulo and Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore. Editors: Thomas Galatola, Millie Munshi