Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures surged roughly 4% on Monday as worries about crop weather in the Midwest and speculation about Chinese demand spurred buying after a U.S. holiday weekend, traders said.
CBOT August soybeans (SQ26) settled up 47-3/4 cents, or 4.2%, and new-crop November soybeans (SX26) ended up 44-1/2 cents, or 3.9%, at $11.92-1/4 a bushel.
CBOT August soymeal (SMQ26) ended up $7.40, or 2.4%, at $312.90 per short ton.
CBOT August soyoil CBOT:ZL1! futures rose 0.99 cent, or 1.5%, to finish at 67.76 cents per pound.
Forecasts called for warmer-than-normal temperatures across the U.S. midsection next week, fueling weather worries as the nation's crops enter summer growth stages.
Over the Independence Day weekend, heavy rains swamped fields in parts of Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and other areas, analysts noted.
Ahead of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's weekly crop progress report due later on Monday, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expected the agency to rate 66% of the U.S. soybean crop as good to excellent, up 1 percentage point from last week.
Speculation about Chinese interest in U.S. crops re-emerged before the holiday weekend and remained a supportive factor for prices, despite a lack of indications of deals, traders said.
The USDA reported export inspections of U.S. soybeans in the latest week at 528,350 metric tons, in line with trade expectations for 300,000 to 600,000 tons.